Are You READY for Amazing Health?

Have you been thinking about lifestyle changes that will get you physically healthy again? Are you one of the 1 percenters ready to shift?

Lots of Baby Boomers are thinking about it. If you’re really ready, quit thinking and start doing.

We are looking for the 1% of all Baby Boomers on the tipping point – ready to tip over into a new, robust healthy lifestyle. Ready to let go of belief systems that don’t work any more and do not serve us mentally, emotionally or physically – and probably never have.

Why are we looking for you? Because if you’re ready, we know you’ll get involved and we know that we can help make a difference.

This is not a network marketing plan either. This is the primary Healthy Wealthy Boomer theme: How to make the 2nd 50 years Better than the 1st.

Getting in shape and FEELING GREAT does not have to be a trauma event. It should be fun – like baking cookies with our grand children. It doesn’t require making a huge change in your life to get started. Making incremental changes is easy as it should be. When things are both complex and not fun, human nature is such that we won’t do them – or at least we won’t stick with the program long enough to make a difference.

Who am I to buck human nature?

Where the 1 Percenters Can Start…

Start with simple things you can do right away that don’t require effort and do not cost money.

For example, if your morning ritual is meeting your friend for coffee at your favorite espresso shop,  maybe you can start by walking to meet your friend for coffee every morning. Maybe you can cut your latte down from a grande to a tall. Start eating carrot and celery sticks 3 times a week (as a snack in the afternoon) and cut back the number of times you eat fried food.

Start cooking at home more and learn how to make delicious, simple and healthy meals. If you don’t cook, take a cooking class or get together with friends and start cooking healthy recipes together.

Buy a blender and start making awesome healthy ice blended drinks or fruit smoothies. It’s a great time for smoothies since it’s summer time.

This is not about Jenny Craig or The  Biggest Loser. It’s about making a choice to enjoy your life better, to be happier and to LIVE LONGER.

Jamie Oliver has started something awesome that he calls the Food Revolution. He’s traveling around the US trying to get people focused on children’s  nutrition in schools and bring enough attention to it to get something done about the horrendous nutrition quality in school food programs for kids. It all starts at home and even if your kids are grown, you can get involved with your grandchildren’s food.

Awareness is a good place to start.

Here is a video of Jamie Oliver talking about how much sugar there is in commercial fruit juices.

A recipe for smoothies as an alternative follows. Here is a smoothie recipe from Jamie Oliver: Frozen Fruit Smoothies.

Many Baby Boomers realize that it’s time to do something different. The online estimates are huge – somewhere in the nature of ~23 million Baby Boomers are obese depending on the stats you read.

Obesity defined: Source: answers.com/topic/obesity

Obesity traditionally has been defined as a weight at least 20% above the weight corresponding to the lowest death rate for individuals of a specific height, gender, and age (ideal weight).

More recent guidelines for obesity use a measurment called BMI (body mass index) which is the individual’s weight multiplied by 703 and then divided by twice the height in inches. BMI of 25.9–29 is considered overweight; BMI over 30 is considered obese.

Harv Eker, founder of Peak Potentials – says,

“Clarity is Power.”

And I agree with him. Clarity can be power. Part of achieving clarity is knowing what it is you are going to do and why you are going to do it.

To some degree, clarity comes from the commitment to follow through on what you are talking about doing. To restate that what I am saying is:

Action is required for clarity to be power.

Otherwise it is just talk.

It’s funny, really, how we do things over and over that don’t work. We choose physical patterns that are are rooted in dysfunctional emotional stuff without being aware that we do it. It has become – for whatever reason – the default. When something becomes a default in human consciousness, it is no longer a conscious choice.

It is an unconscious choice.

At some point, we accept that default and get used to living with it. Sometimes clarity comes through waking up or snapping out of it – out of a walking dream state of semi-conscious behavior – a type of comatose that we have grown to accept as normal. To my way of thinking, anything but vibrant health is not a natural default, although it may be normal.

The greatest obstacles to overcome regarding health are belief systems.

What makes me an authority on this? This is an aspect of what we teach in Core Health workshops. Over and over again we see that this is true. We show people a way out of the rut and how to make new energy choices and it works.

The media and mainstream medical systems love to reinforce our dependency on the need to confer with them about everything related to our health.

Why?

Being healthy’s up to each of us. It’s part of our autonomy – part of our authenticity. We don’t need anybody’s permission to be healthy. Create your own clarity and clarify your power. It is such a great sense of release and a sense of in-powerment to take control of your health.

Choose your own perspective on health – choose a new version that suits you better and start challenging what the powers that be say to you over and over again.

Choose CHRONIC WELLNESS instead. Be a 1 percenter and jump in, if you’re ready for health.

I AM Michael Barrett and I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Another follow up with the Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge:

Reminder ==> Being Healthy Is A Lot of Fun

So often – as a culture – we make drudgery out of exercise and working out. My friend Trever McGhee said something in a video today that made a lot of sense.

Trever came up with his new word of the day: “Livit”, a contraction of the two words “Live it”.

He asked the question, “Who ever came up with the word “diet” anyway? Ever time you say the word, your body contracts because the word “die” is in it – so your body thinks it’s going to die and it associates it with the food around die-ting. No wonder the body doesn’t want to loose wait, it’s afraid to release anything or it might die. So instead of talking about a diet, he chooses to focus on a LIVIT.

I like that Trever. Quite brilliant actually.

Back to ‘drudgery’ and a work-out. I’m choosing to use the word play-in.

Various aspects of this:

You may have noticed that the word ends with “in”. I chose this because it implies within us instead outside of us – whereas outside implies separation.

Play-in makes a game or fun out of the experience – one of internal playfulness and joy.  Just say the word “PLAY” to yourself, out loud a few times, and see if your energy doesn’t shift. “The idea of play” makes me feel more relaxed and like I should smile and anticipate having a good time. It makes me think of kids and enjoying myself. I think about laughing and making noise and all the things we used to do when we were kids.

Adults for the most-part are lousy at playing. Life is serious, after all. We must take life seriously or we aren’t being responsible, right?

If we’re having fun, we can’t be taking it seriously.

WHO SAYS SO?

If you’re like me, you agree we can have fun and still take our duties and obligations to heart, responsibly.

Work is not a word that makes people feel all warm and fuzzy (unless of course you’re a Core Health Facilitator or a successful internet marketer – where work is pure pleasure). In general terms when most of us HEAR AND SAY THE WORD: WORK, it makes us feel tired.

And just to prove a point, I had Alexandra energy measure me personally for the word:

I said the word: WORK and it made me go weak.

I said the word: PLAY and I tested strong.

This is interesting and it follows what Dr Ed Carlson teaches us in Core Health about the power of language and choosing words carefully. Thats why, for example, he calls work-shops ==> play-shops. And that’s why Dr. Ed uses the word:

Re~Treat instead of retreat. Think about it for a second: We get to RE -”TREAT” ourselves (we get another treat) or we can retreat (run away)…

Kind of interesting , yes?

Anyway, this is the idea behind looking forward to PLAY-in instead of doing a WORK-out.

Your health and your body are a joy and a miracle. Start digging it and expressing that internal self-love. It’s healthy and thinking it and saying it are good for your health.

Make the Healthy Boomer Six Pack Challenge fun for you. Take a yoga or pilates class, start learning ballroom dancing, ride a bike everyday, take long fast walks, swim or all of the above.  Take up martial arts or qigong. Start having fun and concentrate on doing things you love – that make you feel good.  Become a healthy wealthy boomer too. You have the brains and you have the experience, you’re a Baby Boomer. Go for it.

BTW, anyone can participate, not just baby boomers.

That’s the way to get a six pack.

I AM Michael Barrett. I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Healthy Wealthy Boomer: June 1 – Healthy Boomer Challenge

The Health Wealthy Boomer definition of health is being healthy mentally, emotionally, Spiritually, energetically, physically and financially. Inherent within this definition is the premise that total health is the single most important component of being a wealthy boomer – our most valuable asset.  Let’s look at this idea and expand it.

First a couple of statistics…

The U.S. Census Bureau says that by 2030, after all baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964) have turned 65, more than 71 million senior citizens will be living in the USA.

Currently, more Americans than ever are obese: one-third of the adult population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Source: www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-05-obesity-age_x.htm

Whatever your personal situation is, far too many Baby Boomers are putting on weight and don’t exercise. Many of us who used to be in the 15% body fat (or lower) category are creeping up to the 25% range. There are much more in-powering choices and life patterns we can make than obesity, particularly as we age.

Many Boomers have decided that it’s  too late to do anything about it and believe they are stuck permanently with sore joints, weak legs and being tired all the time – because that what happens after 50.  Collectively, this is what we have been taught to accept as truth.

I disagree.

If you left a new car out in the elements and never waxed it from day one, eventually the paint would peel off. Who would ever treat a nice car that way – particularly at $25-40K+? You wash it and wax it regularly to protect the paint and to prevent oxidation. You change the oil and get the transmission serviced so it will last as long as possible.

Bodies need love too. If you are not already doing so, start loving your body and yourself. Treat yourself like an honored guest.

If you wait until 2030 to take action, it may be too late. On the positive side, you still have 20 years to become a healthy boomer. A few years ago at a Peak Potentials Train the Trainer 1 Certification intensive, Blair Singer made an interesting point via demonstration that puts 20 years into perspective.

Before I describe what Blair did, let me tell you a little about who Blair Singer is (in case you don’t know). Blair Singer is close friends with Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad Poor Dad,  a real estate investor and all around entrepreneur). Blair is a Rich Dad Adviser and a highly respected “sales trainer” – the guy companies call in to get results in sales by training their staff. Blair was also a student of Marshall Thurber, a genius in his own right and a protege of Bucky Fuller.

By the way, Blair Singer is a healthy wealthy boomer…

Here is a short video entitled Blair Singer: Secret Formula For Business Success that will give you a sense of how dynamic and talented Blair is and why he is such a successful trainer:

So back to my story…

Blair called volunteers to the front of the room ( we had about 600 attendees of which I was one) and had them line up facing the audience across the entire width of the room – and I would guess it was about 200 feet across. Then he had the volunteers stretch out a single rope all the way across the room each person in line holding the rope and keeping it level. He said that this rope represented a “whole lifetime”.

Next he talked about how a person can learn almost anything they need to in 90 days – with the right instruction, information and diligence.

Then Singer had another volunteer attach a piece of red string 3 feet long to the “life rope” and he asked the group,

“What do you all think that 3 feet of red string represents?”

He got all kinds of answers – and everybody’s attention.

Blair finally said,

“That 3 feet of string represents 90 days of your life. You can learn how to do just about anything in 90 days. And look what a tiny portion of your entire life that time really is. If you think about it, no matter how hard the challenge or how uncomfortable it makes you feel, you can both learn:

• whatever you want to learn, or
• need to learn or
• have to learn

and you can stand whatever it is for 90 days knowing it is such a small percentage of the total. Don’t you agree?”

He got absolute consensus from the group. In the big scheme of things, the time period is truly insignificant relative to your entire life. It really was an effective visual – and we often learn easier visually.

In this case, I certainly did.

Here is my Baby Boomer challenge to you:

Take the next 90 days and do something to improve your health.

Be realistic.

Take a step and start creating new habits.

Here are my basic suggestions:

• Start walking more…  Use the stairs at work, park in the far corner of the parking lot when you shop, walk to the store to get the paper or buy a quart of milk instead of driving 5 blocks. You get the idea. Start taking a walk everyday – intentionally. It relaxes you, it stretches your muscles and it activates your metabolism. Walking for health is something all of us can do.
• Keep a journal of what you do.  Keep tabs on what you are doing everyday so you can look at your progress on your self improvement journey. Not a big deal – maybe: “I walked 15 minutes today.”
• Find out about meditation – take a class or watch You Tube videos, or meet with a friend -  and if you already know about meditation, start doing it again.  Meditation is one of the best things you can do for your health. It improves so many things by default. And if nothing else, just sit quietly on the back porch for ten minutes (no phones, television or noise) and watch the sun come up or enjoy your garden or look at the moon. Getting quiet is a very good thing to do on a regular basis.
• Drink more clean water. Learn how to hydrate your body better.
• Stretch every day.
• Start going to bed earlier.

Do this for 90 days and you will feel significantly better than if you continue to postpone that period of time represented by the 3 feet of red string.

Why wait?

The purpose is to create new habits or re-create them…

If you choose to go further with this, we have created courses  and workshops that really work and help people learn how to walk their talk. Get in touch on our contact page and let’s move forward.

In 20 years, you can actually be healthier than you have been in a long time and you can still become a healthy boomer. Why wait any longer to get started? You can do this incrementally gradually increasing the distance you walk and the intensity with which you exercise. Cut back on fried foods and start eating more Omega 3’s.

Start gradually and work up and in no time at all you’ll look forward to talking a brisk walk and having a tall glass of water. Think how much more energy you will have in 20 years compared to what you will feel like physically if you don’t start now. Many of the effects of aging can actually be reversed, so why wait?

Speaking of Boomer Health: What is your health worth to you?

As far as being healthy goes in 2030:

• what will that health be worth to you then? Or said differently,
• what will it be worth you in 2030 to get your health back?

To my way of thinking, being a healthy boomer is a really good investment in your future – and in your wealth – because the root of real wealth is based in pure health. It is one of those intangibles that you can control in your life. And in time, the results will become tangible – one way or the other.

When you are healthy, you have more creative energy, more energy to work, start new projects and build your wealth along the way. On the other hand, not only is it hard to work and be creative when you feel lousy, it’s no fun. How can you distinguish between wealthy boomer and a healthy one? Do you agree that health an essential component of abundance and wealth?

It’s amazing how many people I have met in the last couple of years – in their mid to late 60’s that wish they had taken better care of their bodies when they were younger. I have also met a number of people who are healthier now – in their 60’s and 70’s than many people I know in their 40’s.

• Will you be getting healthier all the time by the time you are 65?
• And will you be actively building your wealth and living the life you want, or
• Will you be working every day to pay the rent and eat like so many people in their 60’s today?

There’s no time like the present.

In fact there only is the present. The past is history and the future hasn’t come yet.

Wake up, tune it and get with it.  I double dare you…

The choices you make today will determine what you become in 20 years. When the time comes, don’t say “nobody told me”. Are you really too busy to care of your health?

Get started now on the Healthy Boomer Challenge.

I AM Michael Barrett and I AM a Core Health Facilitator and Boomer Health Coach

Update on the Baby Boomer Six Pack Blog…

A few weeks ago, I declared my intention to get into training mode physically and mentally targeting SIX PACK ABS by my birthday.

I hereby announce that I have to postpone this for two months – maybe three.

I am still working on re-establishing my daily routine and implementing the system I created in “Look Better and Feel Better in 60 Days“. However, I will hold off on the intense workout routine until I complete some “corrective training” to re-align and reduce the compensation effect related to the information that follows.

Note the operating word : Postpone – not BAIL…

Here’s why…

When I spoke to my mentor (Dr. Ed Carlson) about it at lunch in Gulfport, Fl the following week, he took a good look at my posture and suggested that before I go into training mode, I should go visit Randy Clark in Clearwater, Fl. Randy is partners with Paul St John (yes THE Paul St John – founder of the Paul St John Method of Neuro-muscular Therapy) at the St John-Clark Pain Treatment Center.

Dr Ed Carlson (my mentor) and Paul St John are old friends and have worked together for many years. A few years ago, Paul St. John and Randy Clark became partners.

Smart People Listen to Good Advice…

I had heard Randy speak at the Core Health Facilitators Update several weeks preceding this conversation and found his work to be fascinating. Over the years – although stubborn and resistant at times – I have learned that smart people listen to good advice. In 11 1/2 months Dr. Ed Carlson has never once given me a bad piece of advice. So I went to meet Randy.

Here is my take on how integrative neurosomatic therapy works…

Basically what these guys do is manipulate the muscles to release contraction. And recently they have learned something new. It is actually easier to get the muscles to relax by massaging and manipulating the “organs” associated with different muscles groups and associated meridians. Apparently this is far more effective than working on the muscles directly and in a very short period of time, by manipulating the organs the muscles relax automatically.

As therapy progresses, and the muscles relax to a normal state, many skeletal alignment issues correct naturally as a function of releasing the tension in the muscles.

While it is far more complex than this, this description is basically the idea. There is a lot that Paul St John and Randy have learned about the relationship between the neural net and muscles – and how they “interact and fire”.

In a nutshell, contracted muscles that stay that way for an extended period of time actually create a “lock” and significant tension in the surrounding muscle groups, associated meridians, organs and connecting tissues. This muscle contraction often creates tilts in the skeletal systems and can create long term complications if not treated.

My Personal Physical Situation Right Now…

In my personal case, Randy Clark showed me that this muscle contraction (and compensation) has created a head tilt to the right as well as a pelvic tilt to the right and several issues related to the neck and shoulder.

Unresolved this could transform – over time – into a permanent physical pattern for me and this is unacceptable.

So…

In addition, my primary front abdominal muscle is “not firing”. Apparently when the surgeon cut through that muscle for a hernia operation in 1977, the neural connection to that muscle shut down. What that means is that when the brain sends the signal to “fire” that muscle, the message never gets there through the neural net. From their clinical experience and observation over a long period of time, this is quite a common problem after surgery – for many types of abdominal surgery for both men and women.

The rub is that most physicians are not aware that this is the case and 9 times out of 10 they recommend physical therapy as the post operative treatment. What this means (if these guys are right and I think they are) is that the recommended post operative therapy (which is exactly what the doctor ordered) is often exactly what is not needed for the client. What they need instead is to relax the muscles, where the physical therapy actually induces muscle contraction.

Anyway back to my situation…

No wonder doing 2500 ab crunches a day (I worked up to that because as my friend Holly says, ” I tend to be an overachiever”) in a workout program several years ago did nothing to help my front abdominal core. The ab muscle itself was not firing. So all the surrounding muscles had to take up the slack and “compensate”. Needless to say this can create numerous issues – like a chain reaction in the body. I have a high pain thresh hold, so over time my body adjusted to the contraction and the compensation and – in time – this became normal.

Dr. Ed Carlson often points out that:

“There is a difference between normal and natural. Natural being the most healthy and normal being what MOST of us do, most of the time.”

My personal challenge to everybody who wants to change their life (and particularly Boomers) from normal to natural:

“I intend to set the bar high as a healthy boomer challenging all Baby Boomers to move from being NORMAL to NATURAL and I invite all of you (whether you are a Boomer or not)” – to participate.”

In 2003, I broke my left wrist in 7 places . In 2005 and 2006 there were additional injuries. The first was when I did a one point landing – full body weight – on the side of my neck and right clavicle. From 2005 until 2010, the clavicle was partially separated the whole time (until an amazing man, Grand Master David Harris reset it). I also sustained a knee injury, landing on a piece of steel full body weight in 2006.

I mention these experiences because they exacerbated the issues that had existed within my body without my knowledge for many years.

So here’s the deal…

When I get:

all the “coiled and contracted” muscles in my body relaxed and normalized and then naturalized

and when we correct the mis-alignments

get the ab firing again and

build muscle in the right places – correctively – to hold everything in alignment, the way it should be

Then I will actively take up the abs challenge again. Maybe the new target will be September instead of July, not sure yet. I am really glad that I found these things out because building significant muscle mass and more tension would have potentially compounded the problems and created serious negative long term side effects.

Thanks Dr. Ed and Randy Clark…

Future Baby Boomer Six Pack Updates

From April 28-May 2, I attended the annual Silent Re~Treat that Dr Ed Carlson has been facilitating for over 25 years. During that 4 1/2 days of Unceasing Meditation, I learned a good deal about what else has been going on in my neck – not just the “what”, also the “why” and what to do about it.

This is part of the solution to my situation and the physical expression of who I AM.

I’ll talk about the emotional and “feelings” aspects of this and how it integrates into my overall personal solution in further Baby Boomer Six Pack Updates…

I AM Michael Barrett, I AM a Healthy Boomer and I AM a Core Health Facilitator.

Health is a composite of everything that we are.

Let me rephrase that. Let’s use the analogy of making bread to describe health.

Everything we think and say and do goes into a big spiritual mixer and gets mixed up like bread dough. Whatever is in that dough determines what the bread is like when we bake it. It can have too much yeast, it can fall during the proofing process. It can be fluffy and light and marvelous coming out of the oven. Or it can be dense and have pockets of air when we slice through the loaf.

It all depends on what we throw into the mixer.

Health is much more than our physical condition. It is also a reflection of everything thing that we are at any given moment – including our physical condition – and it changes constantly.

What we think about is critical because we now know from Quantum physics that when we focus our attention on something we actually affect what we focus on. We literally change the world around us
and create the world that ‘we are thinking’. Eastern mysticism has been saying the same thing for centuries.

So it is important that we pay close attention to WHAT we think about and HOW we think.

Our emotions play a big role in our health as well. Recently I read that our emotions are the primary tool God uses to communicate with us. For the vast majority of us earthlings, emotions are complicated. Generally, we associate deep feelings and emotions with FEELING PAIN – something we want to avoid.

This is rooted in our experiences as children. We are taught, in most cases, fairly early on that when we allow ourselves to feel deep emotions and when we feel that is where we get hurt. So as a culture, most of us run from emotions and have a tendency to shut them down or deny them because it is safer – and definitely simpler.

What I have learned over many years is that avoiding emotions is the worst way to handle them because unexpressed emotions are the ones that make us sick. They accumulate in the body and get ’stuck’ if they are not expressed. Year after year they accumulate and in time they become toxic and painful almost like an infection. While we may not be aware of it on a conscious level, these emotions are constantly nagging at us to let them out. Emotions want to be expressed. In time, this turns into physical pain and manifests itself as ‘illness’ or DISease. Notice the word, it really means not-ease.

I heard a definition of emotion by a very tuned in lady in 1984. She said emotions are energy in motion and spelled it this way: E-motion.

Emotions are powerful tools and empower us to really feel and experience the greatest aspects of our lives fully and to feel LOVE to it’s intended depth and capacity. And if they really are the way God talks to us, it seems like we better figure out how to use and understand emotions effectively – just in case we miss something really important.

Aside from the spiritual aspect, which is actually an integral part of balanced health, we need to express our emotions or they will make us sick. And if we have a lot of them bottled up inside of us, it’s a good idea to get them out and clean out the “toxin” they have become.

Energetic health is critical to everything and yet it is probably the most misunderstood aspect of health from the perspective of western scientists, researchers and allopathic medical practitioners (although this is starting to change to some degree).

The Chinese call life energy CHI (QI) and refer to the energy pathways in the body as meridians, or channel chi meridians. East Indians refer to the “chakras” and the energy body. While Western medicine is still waking up – and/or in denial entirely, I can tell you from personal experience that not only are the meridians real, balancing energy, storage and refinement of energy is the real key to good health and longevity.

Spiritual balance is a big piece of the pie. And I am not talking about a particular religion or religious practice. I am talking about becoming spiritual, developing a spiritual awareness and aligning with that part of yourself deep within that knows the truth. It is getting good at remembering your connection to God.

In that context, whatever religious perspective you have, everyone should meditate. It is a key component for health and has a direct and profound influence on so many aspects of health that it could be the subject of an entire book or library.

Health is also the reflection of our physical condition. What we eat, how much we eat, how we take care of our body in all capacities – including exercise, removing toxins, rejuvenation, replenishment, and relaxation – all makes a difference.

Financial health is important in today’s world. Lack of money is the greatest destroyer of marriage today. It create stress, worry and a multitude of problems and most of us are raised with an inaccurate money consciousness. Most of us are taught a poverty consciousness. So part of real health in the 21st century includes recreating our (as Harv Eker calls it) MONEY BLUEPRINT.

To recap, according to my way of thinking and the way I describe it in my book, Healthy Wealthy Boomer: The Plan to Make the 2nd Fifty Years Better Than the 1st, true health is a balance of the:

• Physical
• Mental
• Emotional
• Spiritual
• Energetic
• Financial

aspects of our lives.

Physical health is the real starting point because if we don’t feel good when we get up in the morning, it’s a really poor way to start each day and to live our lives. The body is very tolerant and also very resilient. You can choose health or not, it’s up to you.

Abundance is the true default of the universe – abundant LOVE, prosperity, joy and health. It is our job to remember that we deserve and have the right to manifest everything we want in our life and that we are worthy.

We were designed to be healthy and the universe wants us to have abundant joyful lives in all aspects. Feeling good every day and vibrant health is our right.

I’m serious about making my life everything I want it to be. Right now, I’m working on the 7 Steps to Manifesting the Life of Your Dreams, it’s a free course, it fun and it’s helping me. I recommend you do the same thing. Find out about Manifest Mastermind and build the life you want including amazing health. It teaches you how to use the Law of Attraction to get whatever you want in your life.

It’s not too late for Baby Boomers to change our health and our lives.

It seems as if I have reawakened the Warrior Energy within me lately and it has taken a forward position in my thinking and contemplation.

I have decided to focus on different aspects of meditation for a while because it is becoming more clear all the time that the whole world needs to meditate right now and get things back on track.

It plays such am important role in health. Baby Boomers have a greater need to focus more internally – than externally – just to shut out the noise, the mental clutter and information overload. It is an integral part of achieving balanced health and integrating a healthy lifestyle into today’s world.

Listen to this with headphones on and see what you think.

I find this meditation incredibly stimulating, yet very relaxing.

I call it the Celtic Warrior Meditation but the people who created it call it the Celtic Tranquility Meditation.

Men it’s time to awaken the WARRIOR ENERGY WITHIN YOU AGAIN.

Step into your power, your women need you.

May you be blessed in the Light of Source Energy in strength and serenity.

Aum, Peace, Amen

Lots of Baby Boomers are looking for a home based business that actually works.

Ever thought of using info-mercials to build your own sales force or to find new customers?

Beach Body is already doing it. On January 16th a new info-mercial was released that recruits people for you who want their own business. It’s perfect for Boomers who want to lose weight and get fit.

How many people do you know with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and are devloping the early signs of diabetes or heart conidtions?

And how many of your friends are looking for way to improve their health and start feeling better, eating better, lose some inches, whatever?

Info-mercials Are Powerful

A relatively small percentage of us fully grasp the magnitude of info-mercials as a marketing vehicle. Those who do make a lot of money – if they have the capital and sustainability to master this ‘craft’.

Creating a successful info-mercial takes know how. It is an art form that requires a lot of technical and marketing expertise – coupled with substantial testing to tweak and improve the particular message for a particular product.

Demonstration as a selling tool is an old concept – i.e. the traveling snake oil salesman from the past. More recently most of us grew up watching demonstrations at the annual county fair – and we bought stuff because the demos were so effective.

Vitamix has been doing this kind of hawking for years. It was one of the first organizations to capitalize on dazzling crowded rooms with amazing blending feats by using audio and a loud speaker combined with on the spot food preparation. They have been selling high quality expensive blenders this way for years and still do. I have owned one for 13 years and actually used the Vitamix to sell and demo coffee related ice blended drinks for several years myself.

But info-mercials go deeper than a demo at a county fair or a ‘health and wellness symposium’ where you might have a turn out in the thousands. When you add mass media (television) and a really good product, you have a winning combination that can far outproduce a county fair. In addition to distribution scale and reach, you get results quickly because you are adding the latest incarnation of direct response to the mix – which is magnified by a caliber of technology that didn’t exist 10 years ago.

After viewers are convinced of the amazing characteristics of the product, they can pick up the phone and order on the spot – at two in the morning – no waiting until business hours – and they are encouraged to strike while the iron is hot.

The ‘info-mercial’ is a relatively new method of selling stuff. But it’s been around a while now. Maybe you remember the ‘Ginsu knives’. Another early innovator was Ron Popeil – who started selling the Vego-Matic in 1965,

“It slices and dices…”

The Total Gym info-merical with Chuck Norris and Christy Brinkley has been on the air for more than 10 years now, and Total Gyms are still selling well to this day.

The whole concept of QVC sprang out of this selling genre. 30 years ago nobody would have imagined a television channel that’s sole purpose is a 24/7/365 selling machine.

But it must work, or they would be off the air by now. Right?

So we have seen this distribution system emerge and evolve into a highly sophisticated selling system. Add accurate psychological profiling, niche targeted demographic metrics plus good copywriting and you have a winner – in a big way.

Info-mercials are very good at selling physical products. It has been proven time and again.

Beach Body and MillionDollarBody.com

Beach Body is a company that has been selling physical fitness related products via info-mercials for over 10 years very successfully. They have tested and tweeked the selling process, the marketing message and methods until it is a well oiled machine that is predictable and very consistent.

They have mastered their art form – building lists of buyers and selling products over and over again.

Let’s think about something.

What are the biggest problems for most people who want to create a successful direct marketing business?

Assuming you already have a good product. For most small business owners, the biggest obstacles to overcome and the greatest reasons for business failure are :

insufficient working capital
the lack of direct selling skills
the lack of recruiting skills to find people with good selling skills
not finding enough qualified buyers who want to buy your stuff
inadequate operational and management expertise

This is particularly true for a multi level marketing company or a direct sales force.

How Beach Body Is Revolutionizing Direct Selling and the Use of Info-mercials

The guys at Beach Body came up with something awesome – a new application for this technology and their existing infra-structure.

Suppose, they said to themselves, we could use this same system and create an info-mercial targeting lots of people who want to build their own home based business.

What if…

We already have a lot of people who like our products. We know this because we keep selling them over and over again. What if we can help people (who really liked the products they bought from us) make a business out of selling them to other people?

What if we use our info-mercials to refer lots of qualified buying customers to our new business associates?

And what if we take this even further…

What if we automate the recruiting process so our business partners can effectively build their own sales force without having to recruit them or even find them on their own?

Lots of people have created systems for lead generation – finding buyers or more potential sales people.

But…

Who has done it using info-mercials?

This is the idea behind the concept and in my mind it’s a really good idea.

The new info-mercial has just been released this month – after several months on market testing. It is working well. This definitely has the potential to explode.

Special Offer for 8 People Only That Ends on January 31

The company has offered me slots for 8 people who seriously are interested in creating a residual passive income from home.

Get started before the end of January and the company will pay all the start up costs for 90 days. This provides ample time to get started and get enough momentum to sustain your new business.

If a 90 day window doesn’t accomplish this, you can quit the program – no questions asked.

But…

Why would anyone want to quit a program that:

• removes entry barriers (i.e. no money)
• uses television info-mercials to find you buying customers
• uses television info-mercials to build your sales organization

Eight people only in my group until the 8 slots are filled or until Jan 31 – whichever comes first.

Sign up for the free webinar tonight and Thursday Jan 29

You can listen a presentation by a guy who came out of the financial services industry (sound familiar?) talk about how he got started – without the info-mercial to build his sales force that exists today.

Sign up for the free webinar.

If you can’t make the webinar times we have slotted, you can go here for an online presentation:

Million Dollar Body Info-mercial

Meditation

Meditation is a key ingredient to health in today’s world. Like it or not that’s a fact.

Baby Boomers, like myself, need meditation more than ever. Depending on our individual experience, we may need an introduction to meditating, a refresher course or perhaps even just a reminder how valuable this practice is as a tool for modern society.

Recently, Spirit rang my ‘memory bell’ to remind me that I was neglecting an essential element in the self love department and boy did I need it.

Over thirty some years, I have been a meditation fan in some form or another. I remember originally trying to meditate because it was the cool thing to do and to catch the attention of the great looking young ladies in the local meditation class.

In retrospect there are segments of time where I meditated frequently and developed a ‘relative proficency’ at the process. Then periodically, changes rolled into my life – like fog rolling in off the coast – obscuring my normal life patterns for however long it took for ‘my’ fog to lift.

Life events like:

• having 4 kids
• working 16 hours a day in a new business
• travelling constantly to bring home the bacon
• divorces
• tarting a new business

You get the picture…

Every so often, since my 20’s I rediscover meditation and am always surprised

1. how much I like doing it
2. how much I missed it when I wasn’t meditating and
3. why I had lost touch with this familiar practice again

In my latest ‘rediscovery’, I notice a profound difference and understanding for me this go-round.

Maybe it’s because I have thrown a little wisdom into the overall mix. Maybe it’s because my ego is shrinking gradually. Maybe it’s because fewer things are getting between my Spirit and my authenticity. Maybe the real ‘inner’ me is finally emerging as a permanent fixture after 55 years of trial and error.

It’s all those things and another specific one.

About 3 months ago, my wife and I drove by Ananda Sangha in Palo Alto, California – and almost simultaneously we both said to the other.

“That place feels good, let’s go there on Sunday and check it out.”

Without getting into a lengthy tale, Ananda is an amazing place and the people in it are truly Light Workers and completely dedicated to empowering as many people as possible to find the Divine Light within themselves.

Aside the great friendships we have made and a true sense that we have finally found our Spiritual family after all these years of looking, they teach a very simple and profound method of meditation that – in my experience - is highly effective.

The Ananda meditation practices are directly derived from the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda – the original guy chosen by the amazing Yogi aesthetics in India – to come to America with the express intention to teach Kriya Yoga to the west. The overall purpose was to merge Eastern expertise in Spiritual knowledge with Western strength of material skills.

Anyway…

Ananda Palo Alto is on their game. Lots of really dedicated, truly loving and generous souls frequent the place. The choir oftens sounds like a band of angels – bringing tears of joy to my eyes on many occasions.

The meditation class has – for me – brought a new dimension to my prior meditation understanding and experience.

The results are obvious to me on a personal level:

• Dramatically improved sleep cycles and deeper rest
• Less noticeable stress
• A more frequent sense of calm
• Less internal reactivity to outer stimulus and emotional discord
• A growing deeper understanding of who I am – deep inside
• More joy

If you haven’t yet taken a meditation class, track down an Ananda group in your area and do so. You’ll love how it feels and you’ll like the people. They’re really cool people.

Take it from one who has done most things incorrectly at least once. Study the Ananda meditation and chanting classes and get your meditation on the right track quickly – instead of wandering around trying things for a long time (like I did) until you find a method that works. Go right to the results.

This time around – meditation is here to stay for me – every day for the rest of my life. Even after only a couple of weeks into the course, I find myself looking forward to the next chance I will have to practice again.

It doesn’t take a lot of time and it doesn’t cost much money. But it makes a lot of difference.

If you haven’t already – take a meditation class and start practicing every day. You’ll see a big difference in a short time if you are sincere.

Meidtation for Baby Boomers is a must do and it’s so rewarding and easy.

Why Web 2.0 and Social Bookmarking Really Works…

[media:http://healthywealthyboomer.com/audio/why_web_2.0_really_works.mp3]

One aspect of the internet that has always amazed me is how intimate digital communication can actually be.

Objectively you wouldn’t think so – letters typed on a screen. How can that be intimate? All I know is
that I have been brought to tears on numerous occasions through a touching and thoughtful email or
blog post.

Every so often I forget about my amazement until I am reminded by a passionate and emotionally open piece – created by a caring and tuned in person.

Maybe it’s the emotional honesty that is so striking ; maybe it’s authenticity. Maybe it’s intent. Maybe
it’s intention.

Some of us learn early in life that it’s ok to express emotion and it’s safe to be who we really are.

Others have a tougher challenge to overcome as adults because we learn early in our experience that it
isn’t safe and that individual expression equates to punishment, demeaned self esteem and retribution.

For the former, the realm of emotion and self esteem is a playground, a joyful experiment and an exciting
and interesting game. Mistakes are not only allowed and tolerated, they are encouraged. Life is fun.

For the latter – as a child – survival depends on being transparent, invisible, unheard and unspoken, because being seen and heard equates to pain – emotional or otherwise. Mistakes must be avoided because they are flags that draw attention.

Life is scary.

For the person with low self esteem, it’s a really big deal and it takes courage to express oneself openly in relationships, socially or on the Net, in contrast to who those already understand that it’s ok to be who they are in public.

The Impact on Baby Boomers…

These issues are particularly true for Baby Boomers because we are the generation once removed from the Great Depression and the direct social descendants of the WW2 generation.

Men were silent about their pain and fears. It was the way they survived the horrors so many of them saw in the war and their memories of hunger and scarcity in the Great Depression as kids.

As such, Boomers were trained to emulate this same emotional behavior en masse – just by observing the way many of our fathers maintained a distance and a consistent lack of emotional expression, masking all that pain.

We directly reflect these attitudes and social mores as a group and this self esteem polarity seems to be more pronounced in us as a result.

How One Person Really Makes A Difference

What was it, for example, about seeing Paul Potts – a frumpy, self conscious and humble cell phone salesman singing his heart out on Britain’s Got Talent, that so dramatically impacted observers emotionally?

And it did…

There was not a dry eye in the house when he finished his performance.

Was it the amazing power of his voice?

Yes, partially.

Was it the fact that he allowed his personal power and magnificence to shine through for the first time in his life – and expose his true spirit – in spite of his absolute internal discomfort and fear of failure?

Most definitely.

Was it because instinctively we all sensed that the magnitude of the risk he was taking was so large that most of us would never have taken that risk?

Yes, that too.

Was it because we knew he was taking the biggest chance of his life and that the risk didn’t just benefit Paul Potts, it benefited humanity?

There was a sort hush from the sense of awe that the audience experienced observing greatness unepxectedly. Somehow we all grew from his courage and simultaneously we all experienced emotional cleansing through a widespread “release”.

And a new understanding.

The collective human consciousness expanded a step further towards goodness and truth and the Creator within each of us just by his willingness to face his greatest fear and follow his true path for the first time in his life.

On some level we were all elevated. We rose up. We expanded. And we also learned – clearly – that if he could do it, we can too.

And this happens each and every time someone speaks his (her) truth authentically…

This amazing vehicle we call the “Net” is fast becoming a collective consciousness development program – that expands as rapidly as our ability to understand and utilize it – almost along the lines of the “holographic universe”. So through it all, truth (or the lack of it) permeates all communication. On some level, we can not hide who we truly are when we are active participants because somehow the collective consciousness can sense the authenticity and passion.

Many times in the past I have taken exception to the zealous attitude that blogging purists have taken regarding their antipathy towards internet marketers – somehow equating making money and self promotion with a lowering of standards and an intrusion into “their world”.

But the cool part is that in the bigger picture, we can’t fool anyone when we are not being authentic.

So as the Net consciousness continues to expand collectively, those who are not acting in truth and for the overall betterment and growth of all involved will begin to stand out more obviously through contrast – digitally and instantaneously.

Social bookmarking and web 2.0 are therefore part of the natural progression of free expression and the natural evolution of the Internet.

And those who do not adapt will become extinct Internet dinosaurs.

The days of the used car salesman types online are coming to an end naturally as the Net becomes a greater and more accurate expression of human consciousness.

Authenticity and integrity will overcome self serving behavior and manipulation as the default of expansion and growth. It is inevitable because it will cost too much money to sustain the facade as more and more people get the message and click away to something more in alignment with what they are looking for.

So Web 2.0 and social bookmarking really work because, on an individual level, it is a safe environment for self expression. There is safety of sorts simply through anonymity in and of itself.

But Web 2.0 has also inadvertently emerged as a development tool for self esteem because authenticity is encouraged, congratulated and supported time and again through comments, posts on other blogs, back links and active readership.

It is becoming a platform for high self esteem where we can grow self esteem through the process of helping others and by receiving complements and recognition for good work on a consistent basis.

It’s amazing how the universe works even through an electronic communication medium.

What Do You Actually Know about Genetically Modified Foods?

Are GM Foods a long range technical solution and improvement to the world’s food supply or a great, big, uncontrollable mistake?

More and more it becomes evident that going organic and switching to raw food recipes as a mainstay of the diet – not just an occasional raw meal – is essential. We are beginning to transition permanently with the goal of achieving a 75-80% raw food ratio in our diet.

There are lots of reasons why and we’re going to do a series all about organic foods. And I would like to point out that I am a big fan of technology – it’s cool stuff. But ever changing rapid growth is creating a parallel level of unprecedented exponential growth in ethical responsibility.

This is that the magnitude of any potential problem is so much more prevalent because of the technology.

I’m addressing this issue with Boomers because as a group, we have clout and the potential to get something done about this. There are 77+Million of us and collectively we have a lot of buying power. From that perspective – as an organized body – the powers that be will listen to us because we can impact them both economically and politically.

To me, GM Foods are a really good reason to go organic.

If reading a recent Mercola newsletter article “This company may be the biggest threat to your future health” doesn’t give you the “willies”, either you’re in denial or you haven’t read the article and watched the video.

It scares me…

Before you classify me as a ranting and raving food whacko, watch the video and decide for yourself.

And if Mercola’s article doesn’t have you convinced, read this one: My God What Have We Done? When you get to the page, scroll down to: “Have you heard of the nightmare condition called Morgellon’s Disease?

Pictures of Morgellon’s Disease at the foundation website.

The idea that we have created a disease as a result of gene splicing or mutated or cross linked DNA is really a classic theme for a sci-fi flick, but not a good idea in your family or your neighborhood.

The really scary part of this is that there is no known human enzyme that has the potential to process and breakdown these fibers once they are in the body. The human body is incapable of dealing with this unnatural condition and material.

Here is a quote from Mercola.com:

As of February 2007, more than 10,000 reports of the mysterious disease have been reported on the Morgellon Foundation’s website – up from 2,000 reports a year earlier.

Many of you probably don’t understand just how ubiquitous GM foods are in the food chain.

The fact is that genetically modified foods are so prevalent in the United States that if you randomly pick an item off your grocery store’s shelves, you have a 75 percent chance of picking a food with GM ingredients. This is because at least seven out of every 10 items have been genetically modified.

GM (genetically modified) foods make me nervous. It took thousands of years for man to figure out what DNA was in the first place.

How did we become expert enough on the subject of the double helix - so quickly – to decide that we have enough knowledge and understanding to modify the fundamental components of life on this planet without making a mess out of things?

The fact is that we really don’t understand what mutations are – at least not well enough to know what the potential long range implications are if we create unnatural dna combinations or mutations – inadvertently – while we are “creating superior foods”.

Superior to what?

Nature? God?

Give me a break…

And what if some of the gene splicing we do in a lab has a long term effect that will not be evident for – say 30 years?

If the clowns in Washington can not:

• manage a budget correctly
• or implement a solution to educating our children
• or create a health care system that actually gets people well
• or develop a fiscally viable transportation system or energy policy

Why should we allow these same people to authorize companies, scientists, or special interest groups to potentially meddle with the balance of nature and the fundamental structure of life?

We can recover from economic mistakes but what happens if something goes wrong with this?

Who is culpable? And who is going to pay for it? Who the hell knows what can happen?

Oh well, sorry. We goofed.

Not !!!

This is not a little thing. It has the potential to be an irreversible global catastrophe.

What makes you think that the people interested in promoting this technology are smart enough and focused enough on your well being (and the well being of your grandchildren) to allow them to modify nature without first being very, very clear of the outcomes?

Why are they so qualified?

The burden of proof is on them to prove this – not on the public at large to prove their incompetence after a potential disaster. Who are these “experts” anyway? Are they experts because they say so and do they really have a handle on the implications of their research?

I’m skeptical to put it mildly and I want to know why I should believe what they say.

If science truly understood mutations, we’d have a full blown cure to cancer tomorrow. We don’t.

And these people have the audacity to declare their science creates less of an environmental impact on agriculture than prior methods. From what we are beginning to see, how dare they say that?

They dare because nobody is holding them accountable. The fact is that most Americans do not have the facts.

Personally any crop that can withstand a direct application of “Round Up” and survive is not something I want to ingest. And if I did, what kind of nutrition would be left in a food so resistant to that type of chemical assault?

Simple question for my “simple mind”:

If that plant can withstand that type of punishment – and survive – how could my body possibly digest it?

I simply do not understand how this can be good for my body?

Or – even more important – for the body of an infant or young child that is still developing muscle tissue, organs and a skeletal system? I’m pretty tough and have a well developed immune system because I have made it my job to do so over the last 35+ years.

They haven’t.

I simply do not understand the answer to these questions.

Do you?

The fact is that we all need to know about this stuff and what’s going on behind the scenes.

This may be the most important issue of our time and I’m not exaggerating when I say this. It is our duty as as citizens in a free society (the stock holders of our government – so to speak) to hold these guys accountable in every media venue, to shed light on the darkness and put a halt to this madness before it is too late or at least until we know for sure what we are doing.

Get informed and talk to your friends and neighbors about this – and your sphere of influence. Get involved.

• Email, write and call your representatives on a local, state and federal level and let them know you are concerned.
• Email, write and call the local food service and produce distributors that provide foods to your local community and let them know how you feel and that you are not going to buy products where they use GM foods and encourage them to stop selling GM products. They are in the phone book or you can get the names of the suppliers from the local grocery stores and restaurants.
• Email, write and call the regional offices of the grocery stores you patronize and deal directly with regional management – not the PR people or the filters – the management.
• Tell them you want answers and want this entire process halted until we have definitive proof that it is safe.
• At the very least, demand full disclosure – and labeling – of all GM (genetically modified) and irradiated food at the grocery stores and in all packaged foods so you can choose for yourself if you want to buy GM foods or not – and to know if you are already consuming them or not.
• Buy stocks of food companies (producers, processors, distributors, grocery stores and restaurant chains) that do not utilize GM foods in their processing and manufacturing
• Sell stocks that do.
• Stop buying all forms of genetically modified foods – just in case they are not safe
• Read the labels of any packaged food you buy so you know what you are going to put into your body and your children.
• Buy organic produce from local farmers, support organic agriculture and buy from the local farmers markets.
• Tell the manager at all the grocery stores you patronize that you want more organic produce and frozen organic fruits – and then support them when they stock it.
• And last but not least, start growing an organic vegetable garden wherever possible – on a local level – so you know what you are eating. Start a garden with your neighbor, grow organic tomatoes in a pot on your porch or deck.

This is a big deal. It seems like a much more important agenda for Congress than hearings on “steroids in baseball.”

What do you think?

If you think this is going to go away on its own, you’re kidding yourself. The only way it will go away is if we make it go away. There’s money and power at stake.

My final comment:

I’m not militant about very many things. Except two:

1. Don’t mess with my kids, my family and the people I care about. If you hurt them or threaten them, you will have to answer to me personally.
2. Don’t dare to tell me what I can do with my body. If you think the Boston Tea Party was a big deal, wait until the US population has had enough. This is the real “health care crisis” in this country – and worldwide for that matter, not the price of “generic drugs” and whether insurance will cover Chinese medicine or not.

We need – instead – to focus our science, technology and economic strength on developing methods for becoming the largest producer the most nutritious NATURAL foods in the world. We should set the standard as the world leader for constructive innovation with the largest and most beneficial impact on health and nutrition ever in the history of mankind.

We have the tools, the resources and the technology. Creating synthetic food that looks like real food is a generally bad idea and I don’t want to eat it. From here out I’m growing my own. It’s pretty clear to me that the government is not going to provide for my health, it’s up to me to do that – just like it’s up to you.

We have to take responsibility for our own health – and our family’s – nobody else will.

It’s time for our leadership to wake up and grow spines. If you want to get the attention of politicians and corporate management, use your political and economic vote to support things that make sense to you.

• Believe me, they will follow the money. 1 Million phone calls, email, letters and votes make a big difference. Out of 77 Million, that’s only 7.2% of Baby Boomers.

Healthy Wealthy Boomer: What Do You Actually Know about Genetically Modified Foods?

In this case, what you don’t know CAN hurt you.