You may have heard the term ‘Fair Trade’, and perhaps even bought some fair trade bananas in your local supermarket without even realising it- but what exactly does it mean?

In simplest terms, it means making sure that the people that grow or make the products we buy get a fair price for them, rather than the big international companies and advertising agencies taking most of the profits.   Fair Trade organisations benefit the farmers or craftsmen they trade with by ensuring they are paid around 15-30 per cent of the retail price of products they make or grow.

Fair Trade can also help to make sure that safe and humanitarian working conditions are provided for the farmers and often create sustainable livelihoods for communities in developing countries so that they can continue to earn fair wages.

So now you know about the benefits of Fair Trade, how can you make a difference to the health and lives of others worldwide?  Try to make a few small changes when out grocery shopping to begin with, for example by swapping your usual brand of coffee for one with a Fair Trade logo.  Also, Fair Trade products make excellent and unusual gifts- you can find a variety of hand crafted scarves, jewellery, trinket boxes, purses- and of course; chocolates!  Raise awareness and help spread the word of Fair Trade by telling the recipient of the gift about the benefits.

As well as shops such as your local Co-op supermarket, Oxfam or Whole Foods, there are a number of Fair Trade shops online these days, such as the following-

Traidcraft (www.traidcraftshop.co.uk)

Good range of products, including food, drinks, clothes, homewares and jewellery.

Goodness Direct (www.goodnessdirect.co.uk)

Goodness Direct specialises in foodstuffs, coffee, jams, and juices, especially focused on healthy eating products such as vegan and gluten free goods.

Clipper Store (www.clipper-teas.com)

This is a popular brand well-known for their teas and coffees but the website also provides other items.

You may be wondering how one person can improve the socio-economic inequality, environmental destruction and the exploitation of workers in underdeveloped countries but by shopping consciously you can help make a difference.

For more information about Fair Trade and the best places to buy approved products, visit the Fair Trade Foundation website which lists all the certified stockists in the UK:

www.fairtrade.org.uk

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Each Zero Balancing session is different for everyone, but the following benefits are commonly reported:

* heightened sense of wellbeing and general wellness.

* reduction in stress and the promotion of relaxation.

* reduction in body discomforts.

* promotion of postural alignments.

* enhanced personal transformational processes.

* increased sense of connection, peace, balance, and harmony.

* reduction of tissue-held memory and help in reframing life history.

Dr Fritz Smith, who founded ZB, recently described it as “internal feng shui”. A doctor of both osteopathy and medicine, Dr Smith studied at Esalen Institute in Northern California with many of the forerunners of the body-mind therapy movement, where in the late 1960s he met the celebrated British acupuncturist JR Worsley, whose acupuncture demonstrations “cracked” Dr Smith’s beliefs in the purely Western medical model. Fritz began to explore yoga, meditation, spiritual teachings inIndia, Eastern energy medicine, and quantum physics, and came toEnglandto study with Worsley. He developed the ZB system in the early 1970s.

In ZB, the areas of the body that we’re most interested in are those where ‘force’ is most commonly felt: gravity, for example, or in the body’s ‘natural shock absorbers’, such as the sacrum and the lower back, the hips, the tarsal bones in the feet, the joints where the ribs meet the spine, and the shoulders and neck. For us in ZB, it’s here that our experiences can get stuck, manifesting perhaps as tension or where movement or the flow of energy can become compromised, the effects of which can radiate throughout our physical body and our way of being in the world.

Patterns of tension, thought and behaviour can develop in response to our circumstances or life experiences, and can become held in us physically or they might become our reactions, a habit, or the way we perceive ourselves (and others). Our work in ZB is to introduce a clearer, stronger field of energy through places of held tension, and provide an opportunity for release, and change. Judith Sullivan, a US-based ZB teacher, demonstrates this in a great YouTube video called The Energy Effect using a bedsheet and a large book.
Consequently, there is a ‘structural’ emphasis on working with bone: “Bone is a piezoelectric tissue, so we have electrical currents going through the bone,” Dr Smith explains in one of his own video conversations also available on YouTube. “In my view,” he says, “what’s more important is that we have the transmission of vibration through bone. Because bone, being so dense, when it’s stimulated much of the stimulation is transmitted through the bone rather than absorbed by it. So if I want to get in touch with the whole person, I’ll stimulate them on the bone through touch… and this will radiate through the whole skeletal system. It’s my belief system that bone holds information that’s not held anywhere else in the body. Bone tends to hold ancestral information; it tends to hold early childhood conditioning; it tends to hold those moments in our life which hurt us to the quick. So the bone is holding this vibration of belief systems and in a sense we are victims to these inputs because if we don’t change them they’re stable in bone until we bring a clearer, stronger field of energy through bone, which begins to release trapped vibration and trapped experience.”

In ZB, as we engage the body’s structure and energy we hold points of stillness (known to us as ‘fulcrums’) through which the body/mind of the receiver experiences a clearer stronger field of energy. These still points create a meditation for the body/mind. Consequently, one of the hallmarks of Zero Balancing, as Fritz explains, is that it “quietens the left brain and allows access, through the practitioner’s touch, to altered state of consciousness. In an altered state you are less well-held to your belief systems as to who you are, you’re less well-held to your identity, to your illness, so things are more prone to change.”

We work from a non-diagnostic, non-judgemental viewpoint, and with a completely open mind as to the outcome of the session. When we receive a Zero Balance, we are simply acknowledging discomfort or elements of our life that no longer serve us. This allows access to an infinite range of possibilities, from the release of tension to reframing of personal history. “It’s not based on pathology,” Fritz Smith has said. “We want to know what the symptoms are, but when we put our hands on someone it’s beneath the symptoms. Our focus is on your whole body/mind. Many people who come to ZB come with no complaints, they’re coming because they want to move forward in their life.”

This, for me, leads on to one of the elements of ZB that’s most difficult to explain, especially in this age of Excel spreadsheets and the quantifiable: if you were to ask me what your experience of Zero Balancing will be, I have no idea. It’s very likely that you will feel aligned, relaxed, grounded, and balanced. But exactly what your body/mind will receive or experience is impossible to tell in advance (and sometimes hard to put into words afterwards).

My own experience with ZB since 2006 includes the experience of feeling that my legs were the same length for the first time in my life, following hip operations in early childhood, something I simply didn’t think was possible, so if the session relied on requests it wouldn’t have happened. In another session I’d been discussing a difficult issue in my life and during the session I felt something drain out of my body like oil. It was quite extraordinary. I’d never have asked for that, nor imagined it, I’d never promise it to someone else, and it’s not happened to me since. But in that moment, for me, it was beautiful.

And the name: it was coined when a client of Fritz’s said after her session that she felt balanced back to zero, like she was ‘zero balanced’. For me, that also means that nothing felt too full, too tense, and nothing empty or loose. The name stuck. “When you take a person to a state of balance,” Fritz says, “you’re free of stimulus, and at that moment it’s total potential. It’s our experience that when people are in these states of balance, their next movement tends to be towards health, actualisation, and development.”

Liz Brown is evolve’s Zero Balancing practitioner. Her website is http://www.elizabethbrown.co.uk.

Recommended viewing:

Watch Dr Fritz Smith explain the hallmarks of Zero Balancing:

An introduction to Zero Balancing

Expanded states of consciousness

Focusing on bone

Non-diagnostic system of therapy

Quantum physics and the particle and wave theory

How Zero Balancing got its name

The fulcrum: our working tool

The UK Zero Balancing Association

The US Zero Balancing Association

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So we already know that yoga is good for flexibility, stress relief and finding inner peace amongst numerous other benefits; but did you know that practising yoga can also do wonders for your sex life?  Believe it!

You may not associate an improved sex life with a sense of enlightenment but the two actually go hand in hand, and yoga can be just the thing to help you achieve both.  Firstly, as we already know, yoga can counteract tiredness, stress and poor body image- all factors which may suppress the libido.  Secondly, by improving your physical fitness through regular yoga (flexibility, stamina, strength, muscle control etc.) you and your partner will both enjoy a more sustained physical relationship.

Yoga and Sensuality

Yoga can enhance your sensuality by enabling you to develop an awareness of your body’s sensations and on a purely physical level, many of the yoga poses (for example Upavistha Konasana or ‘Wide-Legged Straddle Pose’) increase the blood flow to the pelvis.  This is crucial for exercising muscles that may remain constricted in our modern sedentary world and can improve orgasms.  Also, through yoga we can learn to switch off our distracted mind and therefore fully enjoy and concentrate on the act of love-making- after all, we’re not going to orgasm if we’re thinking about housework!

For many people, that spiritual and sexual connection is very rare experience.  Being in a committed, intimate relationship brings its own strong connections- feeling desired and cherished by your other half, a sense of comfort etc. but being completely relaxed and focused through regular yoga practice can mean that a sense of ‘oneness’ with your partner and the pleasure it gives can take on a whole new meaning.  Sensuality comes from a better understanding of our own bodies, emotions and thoughts.  This will carry over into the bedroom and make us more sensitive towards our partners- something that is usually reciprocated!

So if you feel that things in the bedroom have been lacking of late, or you simply want to bring an added dimension to your love life, why not give yoga a try?  Your partner will thank you for it!

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You may be wondering why so many dancers with their already long limbs and sculpted muscles would bother to attend yoga classes as part of their training, but the benefits (as listed below) are too numerous not to!

1- Improved Flexibility:  As a dancer you can never be too flexible.  Yoga poses (especially Bound Angle Pose) will open up tight areas whilst maximising the length in those already flexible.  There is a pose for every body part  whether you want to improve on your back bends or achieve higher leg extensions etc.

2- Increased Strength:  Dancers lacking in upper body strength can build up both larger and smaller muscles, and some balance centred Asanas can increase the stability of the standing leg meaning more control in executing movements.

3- Improve Alignment and Posture:  Essential for any type of dancer, yoga promotes a correct posture and spine alignment.

4- Great for Cross-Training:  For the dancer’s joints, yoga is a much safer option for cross-training than running or aerobics.

5- Learn Breathing Techniques:  Dancers are rarely taught breathing techniques but they are vital in learning how to use the diaphragm and breathing without damaging the alignment of the spine and ribs.  This also increases core stability.

6- Keeping Warm and Cooling Down:  Yoga poses allow the muscles to stay warm and the blood to flow without exhausting the dancer before the rehearsal begins.  Certain poses, for example Corpse Pose, are great for cool downs after rehearsal as they provided inner calm and tranquillity by completely relaxing the body and mind.

7- Calm Stage Nerves and Improve Stage Performance:  The relaxation techniques that yoga brings can help provide mental calm before a big show, and keep the mind steady and focused on routines.

As well as being beneficial for dancers, yoga also serves a purpose in the training for another area of the performing arts world- acting.  The connection may not be apparent at first but yoga and acting training have more in common than you may think!  The most important factor is that they both develop the concentration of the mind.  In addition, both require the body to be completely relaxed to focus on what they need to do and explore breathing techniques.

Over the years, yoga has gained recognition by both screen and stage actors for its ability to clear the mind and prepare the body for whatever their work demands.  As yoga can open up both the physical and mental being of a person, it can help to release tension which blocks emotional and artistic impulses.  Hollywood favourites Nicholas Cage, David Duchovny and Woody Harrelson are all known to be regular practitioners!

If you’re an actor or dancer, why not incorporate yoga into your usual training regime and see if it can enhance your performing skills!

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• A Beginners Guide to Yoga : How to Start Your Practice

Join evolve’s Urban Yoga competition. Take a photo of yourself doing a yoga posture in an urban environment anywhere in the world and send it into prizes@evolvewellnesscentre.com and we will post it on our Facebook page. Get your friends to like your photo and the person with the most likes by March 31 2012 wins a 5 class pack for yoga classes at evolve. 

t+c’s: All submissions must be made by 31/3/12. 5 class pack will be rewarded to the photo with the most likes on evolve’s Facebook page. 5 class pack is valid for 3 months from the date of the winners announcement. For yoga classes only. 1 photo per participant.

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Spring is the season of growth, renewal and of new life being born again.  Unfortunately though for some couples trying to get pregnant that new life that they would so desperately like, is just not happening for them.  Infact infertility problems are massively on the increase in this country, according the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 1 in 6 couples experience problems conceiving.

I feel this is largely down to our lifestyle today, but also our environment is more toxic than ever before.  And as a result our health and vitality are compromised and unfortunately reproduction often falls off the bottom of the body’s priority list.  But all is not lost, there are lots of things you can do in terms of lifestyle adjustments that can improve your chances of conceiving naturally.  For example:

1. Eat a balanced diet, For optimum fertility, good food is really important. The key is to eat fresh, unprocessed, wholesome food.  Reducing your intake of dairy and white carbs and increasing your fruits and vegetables is key. Whenever possible buy organic foods, because there will be considerably less chemicals and more nutrients in them, not to mention oestrogens in non organic meat.
2. Supplement your nutrient levels. Supplements should never take the place of good nutrition. However, modern farming techniques mean that the soil our food grows in contains significantly lower mineral levels than it did 20 years ago. So supplementation is more important than ever to top up on the essential nutrients required for good health, including good reproductive health. A good quality multivitamin and mineral and some essential fatty acids (EFA’s) are the basics. There are some multivitamin and mineral products specifically designed for fertility, I recommend the Viridian products
3. Steer clear of pollutants, In our lives we are constantly exposed to environmental toxins, from traffic fumes to pollution in the air. Although we can’t avoid this, we can control the toxic substances that we are exposed to in our own homes by changing our cleaning and gardening products and toiletries to natural products.
4. Drink from Glass bottles. Drinking water is particularly important if you are trying to get pregnant and thats NOT tap water.  Tap water contains oestrogens and chemical compounds which adversely affect the natural hormone balance for men and women.  Drink at least 2 litres a day and buy glass bottles as plastic bottles can leach BPA into the water which mimic oestrogen thereby causing hormone imbalance for some people.
5. Monitor your mucus (women only)  Knowing when you ovulate is important, the body gives several signals to when your most fertile time is, one being the secretions from your cervix.  By monitoring the mucus production throughout your cycle you can know when your most fertile time is.  You are looking for stretchy, clear, thin mucus that resembles egg white.  If you don’t ever see this your system could be too acidic but this can be changed through adjusting your diet, taking supplements and adjusting your diet.
6. Keep sperm cool (men only) Don’t underestimate the effect of heat on sperm. You should keep your genital area cool at all times. Spending a long time in a hot bath, sauna or jacuzzi can overheat your genitals, adversely affecting your sperm. Long distance driving and wearing tight underpants can also overheat your testes.  Also avoid keeping your mobile phone in your trouser pocket and your laptop directly on your lap.

By Cassie Everett Homeopath specialising in Infertility treatment. Cassie is running an evening workshop on her top tips, natural remedies and strategies for optimising fertility on Monday 26^th March at 6.30pm.  For more information click here.

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To the uninitiated, yoga is often perceived to be simply a series of gentle stretches performed by lean-limbed, nature-loving types.  They may be surprised to learn that yoga workouts are actually becoming increasingly popular amongst professional athletes from all corners of the world of sport- from body builders to footballers!

Some of the reasons that sports people are choosing yoga as part of their fitness training are as follows:

1- It helps to develop relaxed breathing.  Breathing has a massive impact on performance and can reduce anxiety and increase concentration.

2-It increases flexibility.  Regular yoga will improve range of motion- beneficial for all types of sport from running to golfing.

3-  It’s good for cross-training.  This is especially useful for those who are doing the same exercise routine all of the time.  Yoga can add variety (with both high and low intensity poses), relieve training boredom and help recover from hard aerobic exercise.

4- Improves balance.  Balance exercises are often overlooked by athletes but are effective in improving body mechanic problems.  A lot of sports and weight training involve repetitive motions which only work on some muscle groups and ignore others- yoga can help with this.

5- Building core strength.  The slow, focused poses of yoga help to build a strong mid-section and this type of resistance training is useful for all athletes.

6- Helps to reduce the build up of lactic acid in the body.  After highly intense sporting activity, muscles can be prone to soreness but by stretching them with yoga poses this can be significantly reduced and help prevent injury.

7- Yoga can help bring the body’s nervous system and mind back to a neutral level.  Doing this after sport can help the flow of blood around the body and prevent hypertension, as well as relaxing the mind to a calm state.

So now we know how it can benefit those in the sports world, who exactly is practising this ancient technique to improve their game?  Well, Wimbledon star Maria Sharapova is one.  Known for her graceful performances on the tennis court, Sharapova credits yoga for helping her game tremendously by relaxing her and improving her flexibility- and does it up to an impressive four times a week when on the road for tournaments!  Our own tennis star Andy Murray even states that Bikram yoga has helped him to achieve success in the sport.

Over in the States, Ice Hockey giants the Ottawa Senators reported fewer injuries during 2006-2007 when they were regularly using yoga as part of their training regime, and NBA basketball player LeBron James attributes his good health to regular yoga too.  Even 7ft1 star Shaquille O’Neal has given it a go!  In the world of American Football, the entire Philadelphia Eagles NFL team had a well-known yoga guru named Baron Baptiste train them for over four years!

Closer to home, England Premiership footballer Ryan Giggs may be well-known for his soccer skills but did you also know that he practises Hatha yoga?  He discovered the benefits in 2003 when suffering from a dodgy hamstring and admits after his first session he went straight home and slept for 3 hours!  Similarly, the Tottenham Hotspurs boss Harry Redknapp raves about the virtues of both yoga and pilates which he has now introduced to White Hart Lane to improve the fitness of his players.

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According to the team leader of the study, Wilhelm Hoffman, one of the reasons people may give in to the desire to constantly check and update their social media is that there is no obvious or immediate downside to it- apart from being a huge drain on the user’s time.

Similarly, you may find it hard to switch off from work mode- commonplace now with the invention of smartphones and their instant email notifications.  A recent move by car giant Volkswagen in Germany means that many workers have their work-related emails stopped from their Blackberrys half an hour after they finish work for the day- a motion very positively received!

As well as taking up a big portion of your down time, social media/email addiction does not allow you to be completely relaxed.  While it’s great to be in constant touch with friends or feel like you’re   one step ahead of the game with work matters- you need some ‘me time’!  Why not give yourself a break from work emails and detach from social networking for a short period everyday?  Here are some tips on giving your mind some true relaxation time…

1. Light some scented candles and take a long soak in the bath.
2. Go for a long walk, if you have a dog- even better!
3. Try doing some yoga or gentle stretches.
4. Find a healthy dessert/cupcake recipe online and get baking!
5. If you have children, read them a story or play with them!
6. Why not actually give an old friend a phone call and have a good catch up?  Laughing over old memories will put you in a great mood!
7. Write a letter or send a card to a relative you haven’t seen for a while-  snail mail seems to have gone out of the window in the last decade, but it can relax you and it will be exciting to receive something other than a bill in the post when you get a response!
8. Take up a new hobby- it can be something art and crafts based or a sport, but both will give you something worthwhile to focus on and allow you to switch off.
9. Learn how to meditate and do some breathing exercises.
10.  Although you may need your work emails on your smartphone, social networking tools are not a necessity!  If you can bring yourself to do it, delete the applications from your mobile and give yourself set times to check your Facebook/Twitter etc. accounts on your laptop or PC.

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According to the Law of Attraction and other spiritual philosophies appreciation (or love) is your natural state of being and who you really are in your deepest essence. In a state of appreciation you recognise and feel your oneness with all of life, and see its perfection and beauty.

Not only is appreciation the highest feeling emotion but appreciation also exerts a tangible, measurable impact on the outside environment. When you choose to appreciate, solutions and opportunities open to you. It is like looking at a particular scene from one level and then going up in a lift and viewing it again, and it appears entirely different. In a state of appreciation you also elicit improved reactions from the people and the world around you.

Another great benefit of practising appreciation is that you become aware of the good you already have in your life. With a consistent attitude of appreciation you will very quickly see more positive things flowing into your life and you will feel happier.

Life is full of opportunities to find things to appreciate if you are looking for them and focusing on them. It is extremely beneficial to practice appreciative thoughts about yourself, the people in your life, your home- and everything else in your experience. It is important to note that your true power lies in becoming one who practices appreciative thoughts about others, not one who looks to be given appreciative compliments.

To practice appreciation I recommend you keep a book or journal where you can write things that you appreciate. Before going to sleep every night try to spend 10-15 minutes writing down all of the good things that happened during your day, including things that you might consider big and little.  You can even look for the good in situations you may have considered ‘negative’: this will transform your experience of them.

What really makes a big difference with learning this new way of thinking is doing it regularly, ideally on a daily basis as you will get incrementally closer and closer to the essence of what you want and how you want to feel.

At the workshop ‘Living the Law of Attraction’ at Evolve on the 24^th March from 2.00pm – 5.00pm, Tracy Friend will be sharing simple and transformative processes including ‘appreciation’ which will assist you in enjoying your life more and in deliberately creating the life you want.

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Although yoga has been used for therapeutic purposes for thousands of years, it is only in the last few years that Yoga Therapy has emerged as a practice in itself.  A greater number of health care workers are beginning to use yoga techniques in their treatments and more people than ever before are considering trying it to heal various ailments, or as a complimentary therapy to other treatment they are receiving for persisting chronic conditions.

 Some of the common ailments that Yoga Therapy can assist in healing are:

•  Digestive problems such as constipation or IBS.
• Hormone-related conditions like diabetes, obesity and thyroid issues.
• Mind and emotional concerns e.g anxiety, stress, insomnia and depression.
• Women’s health issues such as PMS, infertility, menopause and heavy periods.
• Respiratory problems including sinusitis, bronchitis and asthma.
• Muscle, bone and joint pains- arthritis, back pain, fatigue, sciatica and fibromyalgia etc.

Rather than following one style of yoga, Yoga Therapy often takes inspiration from all branches and the sessions are individually tailored on a one-to-one basis as we are all different in terms of health concerns and healing.  After an initial consultation to assess the focus of your problem, your Yoga Therapist will cater for your specific health problems and you will be taught a bespoke regime of postures, breathing exercises, meditation and relaxation techniques dependent on the therapist’s observations of your needs during an hour or 90 minute session.

Yoga helps the healing process with its unique integration of the body and mind, with the addition of the spiritual element.  In focusing on both physical and psychological levels, the practice of Yoga Therapy can help those facing health challenges manage their conditions and reduce any symptoms; but also restore balance, vitality and improve attitude.  This method of positive thinking has long been known to aid healing.

The great thing about this method of healing is that no prior knowledge of yoga is required- your highly qualified and experienced yoga therapist will guide and support you for as long as you need and enable you to self-practice at home.  You can come back for as many follow up sessions as you like which will allow the therapist to see how you are progressing and make any necessary changes to your regime.  The knowledge you will learn will be invaluable for the rest of your life!

To gain a deeper insight into the Yoga Therapy sessions run by the Evolve Wellness Centre and learn more about the specialist Yoga Therapists, check out the following link:

http://evolvewellnesscentre.com/yoga/specialised-classes/yoga-therapy

Or call 020 7581 4090 for more information.

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