Eco-Friendly Autumn/Fall Coats

Autumn (Fall), has arrived for those of us in the Northern hemisphere and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to look for some eco-friendly coat options for the cooler months.
What I found were some really beautifully styled coats made from hemp and organic cotton, both earth-friendly fibres grown without pesticides and naturally biodegradable at the end of the garment's life cycle. Below are my picks for the season.

Earth Speaks has a beautiful 100% Hemp Toulouse Coat, pictured left in Natural, made from 100% eco-friendly hemp and comes in an earthy array of neutral colours including Natural, Black, Sea Foam and and Saffron Gold.
It's available in sizes XS through to XXL and sells for US$258.00.

Rawganique offers an Organic Cotton Audrey Coat, pictured right in Ivory, made from certified organic cotton, brushed for softness and naturally water-repellent.
It's available in sizes XS (size 4-6) through to 1X (size 20), comes in Ivory and Earth Brown and sells for US$239.00.

For UK readers, Natural Collection has a Hemp & Organic Cotton Trench Coat, picture left in Black, made from 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton in a classic belted trench coat style. It's available in UK sizes 10 through to 18, in black only, and sells for UK£95.00.

Meditation for a Zenful Mind

Mention the word meditation and you will hear comments such as, "I'm not into that 'new age', Eastern thing.", or "I don't have time to sit and do nothing.", or "I tried it once but it was boring and I kept falling asleep.", and ultimately, "Meditation's not for me."
The resistance lies not with meditation itself, but with the perception surrounding what meditation is.

So, what exactly is meditation? The concept and practice of meditation has come to us in the West through the religions and philosophies of the East, bringing with it an inextricable tie to esoteric states of awareness, enlightenment, spirituality. But if we strip away all the spiritual beliefs related to the practice of meditation, what are we left with? Simply the state of being aware in the moment, achieved through quietening and focusing the mind.It used to be thought that the neural connections in the brain were laid down early in life, and once in place remained in a fixed state throughout adulthood. But as the capacity of science to measure and quantify the human brain has advanced, we now know that neural connections and pathways are anything but fixed and instead we have the term 'neuroplasticity' to describe the flexibility of the brain to continue development and improve function well past childhood and adolescence.

Buddhist monks meditating under the Anandabodhi tree in India.

Studies show that the simple state of focused awarenes, the practice of meditation, has the same effect on the brain, over time, that physical training has on the body. It brings about quantifiable physical changes, increased connections, improving synchronisation and organisation of brain activity, leading to greater function. It is this organisation of thought and synchrony of the brain that brings an harmonious, Zenful state into daily life.

One perception, or misconception, that has gathered much of the resistance toward meditation is of the hours of cramped, unmoving silence. The struggle with the purpose and point of sitting still, seemingly doing nothing, waiting for the minutes to tick by while struggling to empty the mind of all thought.
But just as there are many ways to achieve fitness through physical exercise, so there are many different ways to achieve a meditative state. Zen is not about emptying your and mind and shutting off from the outside world, but about achieving an harmonious connection, awareness in the moment, between the mind and the world around.

A statue depicting the Buddha in meditation.
The eyes remain slightly opened, forming a bridge between inner and outer worlds.

Of course you can sit quietly and just allow yourself to be aware of thoughts that come and go and concentrate on your breathing or something else that brings focus to your mind. But you can also achieve a state of meditation through rhythmic or repetitive activities performed with focused awareness, like jogging, walking, swimming, spinning wool or washing dishes.
Guided meditation is another means of quietening and focusing the mind and gives structure where sitting in silence may leave you feeling lost in a sea of chatter within your mind.
www.fragrantheart.com offers a wonderful array of free audio guided meditations as well as an abundant collection of articles and information on meditation. There's also a free 5 day introduction course if you're just starting out with meditation.

Rhythmic, repetitive activities, such as spinning wool, induce a meditative state.

So whether you spin prayer wheels or spin wool, doing it with a meditative focused awareness allows you to build better connections and more organised pathways through the brain for a more Zenful mind.
And if you've met meditation with resistance in the past, open up your perception of what meditation is so you can find a method that's right for you to train your mind toward greater focused awareness in daily life.

Listening to Mozart Reduces Stress and Latex Allergies

According to a study by Hajime Kimata, published in Behavioral Medicine, Spring 2003, a group of patients with latex allergies showed a significant decrease in allergic skin wheal responses to latex after listening to Mozart for 30 minutes, while other groups who listened to Beethoven, Schubert, Hayden and Brahms all failed to produce the same positive response.
Moreover, those who listened to Mozart also reported a decrease in self-rated stress levels, while again, the other groups who listened to the music of various other classical composers did not report the same significant decrease in stress levels.

Mozart at the age of eleven.

The positive effects of listening to Mozart have received a lot of media attention over the years, even coining the term 'the Mozart effect'. Much of this interest came from a 1993 study, conducted by researchers at the University of California, Irvine. Rauscher, Shaw and Ky, found that listening to 10 minutes of a Mozart sonata temporarily improved the IQ scores of 36 college undergraduates by 8 - 9 points. However, several similar studies have been conducted since that cast doubt on these findings, being unable to reproduce the same improvement.

But despite the skepticism surrounding the results of Rauscher's 1993 study, there still seems to be something quite special about Mozart.
As well as evidence that listening to Mozart reduces stress and affects the immune response to allergens, there have been a number of other interesting findings from studies involving Mozart.

A Brazilian study found that peripheral vision was temporarily improved in glaucoma patients when they listened to Mozart's music for 10 minutes prior to a sight test, while perhaps one of the most impressive effects of Mozart has been seen in studies of epilepsy. In one study 23 of 29 patients with sever epilepsy showed a significant reduction in the electrical activity associated with seizure when listening to Mozart. Other music does not have the same results.

From the last movement of Mozart's Sonata in A Major.

Another study showed that listening to a Mozart sonata for 10 minutes, compared to listening to a short story for the same length of time, resulted in enhanced synchrony of the firing pattern of the right front and left temporoparietal areas of the brain, as well as increased beta brain waves in the right and left temporal and right frontal regions, while studies with rats and mice have shown rodents exposed to Mozart performed better in memory and learning tests compared to rodents exposed to the equivalent amount of white noise.

So what makes Mozart special? No-one knows for sure but there are a number of theories. There does seem to be a correlation between the rhythmic qualities of Mozart's compositions and some of the rhythmic cycling of our own brain waves, that a Mozart sonata is in fact 'mimicking' the pattern of electrical firing of neurons within our brain.

The study with rats suggested that their improvement took place at a molecular level and was associated with an increased gene expression of BDNF, a neural growth factor, CREB, a memory and learning compound, and synapsin I, a synaptic growth protein.

Whatever the reason for the fascinating effects of Mozart, it is wonderfully pleasant to listen to and may just have profound, positive effects on cognition, stress and even the immune system.

10 Reasons to Hand Wash Your Dishes

1. Hand washing dishes, sensibly, uses less energy than a dishwasher, even an energy efficient model. There have been studies done that challenge this point, such as this one, (http://www.landtechnik.uni-bonn.de/ifl_research/ifl_research_project.php?sec=HT&no=1).
In this particular study the 113 hand washers used, on average, a staggering 103 liters, (or a little more than 27 gallons), of water to clean 12 place settings. This is understandable considering they ran the water constantly during the washing up process, whether it was needed or not. They compared this to
dishwashers with the highest energy efficient ratings, which used on average 15 liters or a little less than 4 gallons.

Washing dishes by hand uses less water and energy than a dishwasher.

However, if you are of sound mind, you won't leave hot water running needlessly down the drain and your water consumption should be considerably less than 27 gallons.
I use about 10 liters, (2.6 gallons), of water to wash dishes for two people each day, the water doesn't need to be as hot as a dishwasher requires, saving energy used for heating, and washing the dishes by hand doesn't involve any electrically powered mechanical parts.
If you're still not convinced, just try it for a month or two and watch the changes in your household energy consumption.
And don't forget that rinse water can be saved and used to water your garden. The small amount of soap in the water won't harm your plants.

2. Dish liquid, especially non-petroleum derived eco alternatives, are far less polluting to our waterways than the much harsher surfactants used in a dishwasher.

In order to clean greasy dishes you need friction, a form of detergent and warm water. If you reduce any element of the equation you must increase the others in order to clean as effectively. Dishwashers don't apply friction to you dirty dishes in the same way that a sponge or brush does, and therefore require hotter water and stronger detergent.

Dish liquid used for hand washing dishes is less polluting
than the harsh detergents used in dishwashers.

3. You won't find yourself running out of dishes halfway through the day while you're waiting for a full load to run the dishwasher, and you won't find yourself shopping for extra cups, plates and spoons to fill the gap while you're waiting for the dishwasher to fill. The alternative of running your dishwasher when it's half empty is just horribly inefficient.

4. If you already have your hands in a sink of hot, soapy water, chances are you'll pay more attention to the crumbs on the kitchen counter, the grubby fingerprints on the fridge door and the splatters on the stove top and cleaning it all seems to require a lot less effort when you already have your hands wet.

Find the Zen in dish washing.

Washing dishes by hand gives you time to reflect and just let your mind be quiet.

5. It gives you time to think, reflect, or just let your mind be quiet for 20min. Find the Zen in dish washing. Inner harmony is not about sitting peacefully in meditation for an hour a day and then thrashing your way through your daily 'chores'. The time we put into menial tasks such as cleaning is not inglorious. It builds and preserves the foundation of a comfortable and Zenful life for ourselves and those we live with.

6. Unless you have terrible eyesight with no correction or you're incredibly sloppy, your dishes should come out consistently cleaner. While some things may 'feel' cleaner when you grab them out of the dishwasher there will always be the forks, knives and casserole dishes that come out with caked on egg or cheese.
And if you don't unload the dishwasher as soon as it's done, the little pools of water in a flipped over tupperware container or serving spoon, combined with a warm environment, provide a perfect, moist breeding ground for bacteria.

Washing dishes by hand burns more calories than loading a dishwasher.

7. It burns more calories than sitting watching TV. If you weigh 130 pounds and spend 20min washing dishes you'll burn about 45 calories. If you spend those 20min watching TV instead, you'll burn about 21 calories. So, an extra 24 calories a day, you say. That's not a whole lot. But 24 calories a day adds up to 8760 calories a year and if a pound of fat equals 3500 calories, then the calories burnt while washing your dishes by hand instead of letting the dishwasher wash them for you, equates to about 2 1/2 pounds of burnt fat a year.

8. Dish washing can be a bonding experience. If you share the dish washing with someone else, one person washing and the other drying, it's a great opportunity to share daily news and chat.

The alternative is arguing over who will load the dishwasher.

Washing greasy dishes by hand makes you a little more aware of the fat
you're adding to your cooking and may prompt you to cut back .

9. Washing dishes by hand makes you a little more conscious and efficient in the kitchen. When you're involved in the cleaning process of your pots and pans you're likely to cook more efficiently to minimise excess washing up and you may find yourself cutting back on the fat you use in cooking. When you wash dishes by hand it makes you aware of the extra water, detergent and energy required to clean greasy dishes - and then translate that to the extra effort your body has to make to digest those greasy foods.

10. A dishwasher is made up of about 60lbs of steel, plastic, copper and other nonrenewable resources, all requiring a vast amount of energy to process and manufacture from raw materials to dishwasher.
As well as the energy used and carbon produced in the manufacture, most dishwashers, or at least parts of dishwashers, will have to be packaged and shipped over substantial distances before they find their way into your kitchen, producing more CO2 and using more energy.
And dishwashers have a limited lifespan of 10 - 15 years, so at some point all of those nonrenewable resources will have to be disposed of, and while much will end up in landfill, even the parts that can be recycled will produce yet more carbon and require yet more energy to recycle.

So give hand washing a chance...you may just find it a Zenfully enjoyable experience.

Zenful Living = Living Consciously

From the time we get up until we go back to sleep we describe ourselves as 'conscious', but how consciously are we really living? The dictionary defines 'conscious' as, "perceiving, apprehending or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation" and "acting with critical awareness", yet many of our decisions and actions during the course of a day are fairly mindless, performed without a great deal of conscious thought.
Zenful Living is about living each moment consciously, whether you're brushing your teeth, washing the dishes or feeding the cat. Think about your actions and act with awareness.
Before you jump in the car and drive somewhere, ask yourself if there's a more efficient way of getting where you need to go and plan ahead so you don't need to make unnecessary trips. Before you buy yet another appliance for the house, ask yourself if you need the clutter. When you're brushing your teeth be aware that the fresh water running down the drain is a limited resource and before you think an irritated, angry thought, be aware that the stress you produce in your mind is producing a chemical reaction in your body that's lowering your immune system and compromising your health.
By being conscious and acting with awareness we live with greater harmony within ourselves and in greater harmony with our planet.

Welcome to Zenful Living

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