Go Ahead, Leave the Light On

Now, we’d never ask you to waste energy by literally leaving the lights on in your home. But you could be depleting your own precious energy by letting the light burn out in your first home—your very being. It’s easy to see how this can happen considering the active lifestyles we lead. We also live in a society that constantly delivers the message that when we look good, we feel good (or at least we should). When it comes down to it, though, the opposite is actually closer to the truth—when we feel good, we look good. Let that idea sink in for a moment…

Still with me? Good.

Our bodies may be front and center, but no amount of adornment or level of physical fitness can reflect the real you, not to the world at large nor to the face staring back at you in the mirror. That kind of illumination comes from within. After all, we’re not merely physical beings walking around in an empty shell; we’re mental and spiritual beings as well. However, before your inner light can truly burn bright, it may be necessary to peel away a few outer layers that may be jamming it.

Treat demands for your time like a sweater—if the task fits, wear it; if not, give it away. If you’re the kind of person that everyone else runs to for help and support (okay, you can put your hands down now), then you need to learn how to filter out the extra load before you become saturated and weighed down with it. This is especially important if coworkers are accustomed to counting on you to pull through for them at the last minute. Taking control of what you can do, what you can’t, and knowing the difference, will be like wearing an SPF 30 sunscreen formulated to deflect unnecessary burdens.

Stoke the fire at the source. Your body is the generator for your inner spark and it requires maintenance. If you let your batteries run down, you may end up draining your energy reserves and…out goes the light. Remember to take the time to eat right, exercise, play (yes, play), and to ground and center with a few moments of meditation or quiet reflection each day.

Get relative. Einstein spent eight years hammering out his General Theory of Relativity, which states that matter and energy synergistically create the shape of space and the flow of time. Profound, huh? Maybe, but we can stretch this theory a bit to coincide with another basic principle: the Law of Attraction. What you spend time and energy to think, create and send out into the universe will come back to you in due force. So, practice positive thoughts, deeds, and self-love to breed more of the same.

These small changes in attitude and action may be easier said than done for some of you. However, owning responsibility for your feelings of self worth and value makes you captain of your own ship or, in this case, keeper of your own light. Besides, that bright fellow, Einstein, had something to say about effecting change that should help you see light at the end of the tunnel: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Hmm.

There’s More Than Munch in a Celery Bunch

Celery might be a great side with chicken wings (skinless, of course), but a flavonoid recently identified in this snappy veggie might help to keep your brain from sprouting feathers and your memory from taking flight.

According to researchers at the University of Illinois, celery contains a flavonoid known as luteolin that exhibits powerful anti-inflammatory properties and may offer protection from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. By using mice-derived microglia (specialized cells that provide the first line of immune defense in the central nervous system) the researchers were able to observe this effect. When the microglia were exposed to bacteria in vitro, the inflammatory response decreased when luteolin was introduced.

In a follow-up experiment, the researchers added luteolin to the drinking water of mice for three weeks and then injected bacteria into the same subjects. Four hours later, blood tests revealed a decrease in proinflammatory mediators circulating in the blood. Even more promising is the fact that the researchers discovered decreased inflammation in the hippocampus, the region of the brain that regulates learning and memory.

Clearly, the idea that celery is devoid of any nutritional value can now be forgotten. In fact, that celery keeping crisp in your fridge might be better considered as food for thought—literally.