We think your health, and everyone else’s too, is a matter of laughing....more.

By Perrie Meno-Pudge

While the reason is not always clear, people who laugh more, generally have a better sense of well-being and control in their lives. The power of humor has been recognized and recommended for centuries. Today, modern medicine offers a multitude of clinical studies showing that humor and laughter have a positive effect on our immune system, our heart, liver, internal organs, stress levels and even pain management all appear to benefit from laughter and a positive outlook. A shared laugh is often the best kind of remedy for what's got you down!

"GROW A SENSE OF HUMOR" sunflower seed packet.

When you get the sense of humor knocked out of you,

we recommend you find a sunny spot and grow one back...FAST!!!

Both traditional and alternative medicine use many forms of humor therapy. Scores of physicians, nurses, and other health care practitioners recognize the value of humor and laughter by mixing them in with medication and treatment.

And there’s more good news. Humor has a positive effect on how we function intellectually and emotionally.  It can help us put life’s hard knocks into a healthy perspective. It helps us to overcome fear. Humor allows us to take ourselves less seriously. It  even kindles our creativity.

So how can you add a large dose of humor into your daily routine? We’re glad you asked!

•  Brown bag it! Bring a few kids toys to work with you and keep them handy. Then, when you’re stressed out by a difficult phone call, reach for a toy and play. That caller will have no idea that you’re keeping yourself from losing your marbles literally by playing with some.

•  Keep funny pictures of friends and family around your office, especially ones that remind you of a fun outing or vacation you enjoyed with them

•  Fill your office with funny cartoons, sayings and jokes. (we recommend you include lots of PERRIE MENO-PUDGE® cartoons and some of our Signature Products that are designed to put a smile on your face!) ( Yes, we’re shameless) When things are looking particularly grim, look at them again. You’ll get a good laugh and in no time, be better able to put things back into perspective.

•  Exaggerate! Take a look at your situation and imagine it even bigger than it is. Go for the extreme. Blowing the problem out of proportion in this way will allow you to see the absurdity of it, and studies show that a good laugh may make the worries disappear

•  Share our cartoons, and hopefully a laugh, with your friends and family. Tell them you are thinking of them and that you’ve been there, done that, too! It always makes us feel good to spread the smiles.

Ultimately, we all have a choice. We can continue to let all of the frustrations and disappointments in life weigh us down, or we can find ways to introduce levity into even the toughest circumstances. Take life’s lemons and make lemonade. If we can do that, we are more likely to enjoy each day to its fullest and perhaps spend less time at the doctor’s office in the long run. We think your health, and everyone else’s too,  is a matter of laughing....more.

Please tell us what you do to keep your funny bone strong & healthy. Tell us about a situation in which you used humor to make lemonade from life’s lemons. We might even turn it into a cartoon!!!

"Like" us on Facebook, "Follow" us on Twitter, Sign up for Perrie cartoons and updates to be delivered to your inbox. Midlife is the New Beautiful® We’ve never seen a smiling face that wasn’t beautiful at any age.

Longevity: The 10 Tips!

by Mary Marino

How we age is about 30% genetics. The rest is in our hands. It’s never too late to start to reverse the main things that cause aging– overeating, over stressing, and under-activity. We put together the 10 best tips we could find for taking control of the physical aspects of creating a longer healthier life.

-    Laugh. Laughter lowers levels of stress hormones, and boosts activity of the body’s natural defensive antibodies. Studies show that people with a sense of humor have a 31% longer survival rate.

-      Sleep enough but not too much. Both too much and too little sleep can have a negative impact on longevity. Six-to-8 hours is optimal. People who get more than 8 hours or less than 4 have a significantly higher death rate. See: Smart Snoozers

-    Cancer-proof your diet. The American Institute for Cancer Research findings show that about 40% of cancers are diet related. See: Live Long Eat Super Foods

-    Exercise. Fit women have a 40% less chance of developing heart disease. The Cooper Institute of Aerobic Research’s studies show that people in the lower 20% of fitness were 3 times more likely to die prematurely than the fittest group.

-     Floss. People with gum disease have an increased risk of heart disease and a higher mortality rate.

-    Take vitamins. Even the best diet needs some supplements. Dr. Michael Roizen, co-author of YOU: Staying Young, says the minimum should include a multi-vitamin, 600 milligrams of DHA/omega 3, 1000 IU Vitamin D, 600 Milligrams Calcium, and 200 milligrams magnesium. (NOTE: Look for whole food vitamins, not synthetic. It should say ‘whole food based’ right on the label.)

-    Work toward your ideal weight. Overeating is one of the main causes of aging and increases the risk of heart disease and cancer. Every 10% increase in weight raises blood pressure, one of the major factors affecting aging. Studies show that reducing daily caloric intake by 10-to-20% is linked to longevity.

-    Get regular check-ups. Have a PAP smear. Examine your breasts. Nine-out-of-ten breast lumps are benign, and most are found by women who regularly examine themselves. Most breast cancers are curable if they’re caught early enough.

-   Eat dark chocolate. It contains phenols, chemicals thought to protect against heart disease and cancer. Studies show that people who eat a moderate amount of chocolate live longer than those who never touch sweets.

-   Drink tea. Both green and black teas contain powerful antioxidants. A Harvard study found that one cup a day cuts heart attack risk dramatically. Other tests have found that drinking tea boosts the survival rate following a heart attack by 28%.

__________________________________

Hot Flashes and Fashion Are NOT Mutually Exclusive!  Style is ageless.

Mary Marino is a fashion journalist, clothing designer and style lover. For 25 years she has been identifying trends and giving them commercially viability for the fashion industry. In her 40s’ her love of fashions evolved into a pursuit of a life of style and substance.

Mary is the co-creator of Flashionista (http://flashionista.com/) , a voice for interpreting popular culture as it relates to modern boomer women staying healthy, fit, fabulous, and relevant. A Flashionista is a woman over 45 who loves style and fashion.

For more information about Flashionista.com, to sign-up, and to see what’s important to women over 45, visit http://flashionista.com/  Topics include Lifestyle, Fashion, Health, Connect, Reinvent, Be Happy, every modern boomer woman needs a strong combination of all of the above to stay current in a changing world.

The Power & Purpose of Your ‘Natural No’

by Lissa Boles

What’s one of the first words kids learn to say and use (often!)?

It’s ‘NO,’ right? 

Doesn’t matter what country we live in or what language we first learn, every child everywhere begins exploring their world able to tap into their natural, inner sense of NO.

In fact, most kids delight in saying NO, don’t they?

That’s because our ‘Natural No’ is there as one of our inner compass points.  It’s a primary source of our power and voice, guiding us away from what’s not best for us.

Saying it often when we’re young is how we begin to learn to hear ourselves, not to mention learning to exercise our voice and our power. 

Sadly, we learn - often and early - that saying ‘NO’ isn’t allowed, and loose touch with ourselves.

We learn to get along.

Be polite. Nice. 

How to do the right thing…

All this is done with the very best of intentions, mind you. Can you imagine a child who never learns limits or boundaries?

Thing is we’re only now coming to realize that in teaching ourselves how to get along with others we’re never really known how to show ourselves the way to stay in touch with our true selves in the process.

But there’s good news!  To reclaim your inner sense of your right direction, all you have to begin is plug yourself back into your Natural NO and practice using it, much like you did when you were a kid.

Now, here’s a minor caveat: plugging back in after all this time may feel a little odd at first.

A little counterintuitive - even a little risky. 

Remember that you don’t have to act on what your Natural NO says unless you want to: all you have to do is practice tapping in and learning how to hear what is has to tell you and go from there.

Uncomfortable though it may feel at times, your voice, personal power and clarity of purpose – not to mention the ability to stay on course - is on the other side of that discomfort, so give it a shot.

How To Plug Back In

Here’s the Top 10 Questions that’ll go a long way toward helping you plug back in and feel out the shades and nuances of guidance inside your Natural NO.

Answering them one by one will help you learn how it feels as your Natural NO talks to you.

They’ll also help you feel out the layers of meaning and information inside your NO, so you know why, how much and in what ways something or someone is a NO for you.

When you first start plugging back it, practicing’s with the past is much easier than diving into a high-emotion, in-the-moment experience first: there’s just less pressure. 

So begin by reviewing situations that were unhappy, hurtful or really dissatisfying to you.

When the details of the situation you’re working with are clear to you, let yourself feel again all the feelings you felt then (sucks, I know, but there’s purpose it in – inside those feelings are the answers and direction you’re looking for).

One by one, answer the questions below in writing, letting your inner kid – the unadulterated you you were before being socialized and the keeper of your Natural No – answer them. 

Just two rules: no censoring your answers. And judging yourself for how you naturally feel.

Just let the raw, natural response come through.

You’ll likely hear or feel simple, very clear and very direct answers.

Your answers might even be snippy, bratty or smartass.

(I myself am particularly fond of smartass – they make feeling crappy oddly enjoyable).

If that’s the case, just know it’s totally okay.

The objective here isn’t politeness but simple honesty. This inner part of you knows exactly how you feel about things - and why.  And she’s far less concerned with being polite than with you being who you really are in the company of people who respect, appreciate and want you to be the best you you can be – happy, fulfilled and fully alive.

She also knows that your ‘NO’ can go through the ‘polite’ filter later: what she wants first is for you to know what’s most true for you so you can make the best decision possible for you.

More than anything, she wants you to be in the right place, living the right life, with the right people because she knows that that’s what will make you the most happy, fulfilled and fully alive.

And who doesn’t want more of that, right?

Ready…?

The Top 10 Questions To  Plug Back Into Your Natural NO

1. I hate these people because they can’t see that I…

2. I’d be so much more comfortable around people who don’t…

3. It’s so frustrating that these people expect me to be…

4. Compared to everyone here, I’m much more…

5. I don’t fit in this situation, in this place, with these people, because I am not…

6. If I were in my right environment, with people like me, everyone would realize that I’m…

7. This situation is way, way too…

8. I can’t wait to get away from people who…

9. I want to scream in this situation because…

10. I’m so angry because no one here wants to let me…

________________________________________

Lissa Boles, is a Master Life-Purpose Coach and former broadcast talk-radio host on CKDO in Toronto. Our mid-life sista practices a kooky-cool next-evolution of astrology called Soul Mapping. To learn more about Lissa or about Soul Mapping, you can visit www.TheSoulMap.com, or become part of the Soul Map community by becoming 'a fan'
at www.Facebook.com/TheSoulMap.

Summer Detox to Feel and Look Fabulous

by Irina Wardas

Summer is the best time for an easy detox and natural weight loss because of its abundance of fruits and vegetables.

Detox is a relative term, because anything that supports elimination helps us detoxify. If the body is working well with good immune and eliminative system, we can handle the basic every day exposure to toxins. But sometimes we need to change our dietary (healthier food choices) habits to reduce intake of toxins and improve elimination which can be also a great weight loss technique.

Simply drinking more water (filtered) helps us eliminate more toxins. Hot weather increases sweating and reduces urination which might lead to dehydration.  Headaches, fatigue, dizziness, muscle cramps, tingling of the limbs are the symptoms of dehydration, so we need to drink extra 2-3 glasses of water to feel and look fabulous in Summer.

All fruits (apples, berries, pears, apricots plums, melons, grapes, peaches, mangos, papaya) as well as all citrus are both cooling and laxative which can help our cleansing/natural detox process.
 
We also should try to eat more refreshing and cooling salads with slightly bitter-tasting, cleansing greens, such as dandelion greens, watercress and endive.

In summer we can eat more local fruits and vegetables, so don't forget to incorporate a lot of cooling vegetables, such as potato, tomato, summer squash, zucchini, cucumber, celery, mushrooms, bean sprouts, artichoke, bell peppers, asparagus, sweet potatoes, beets root and yam into your diet. You can cook them, eat them raw or make delicious juices.  And have in mind that all vegetables from cabbage family increase alkalinity and reduce acid condition such as bad breath, excess hunger and even anger.

Humid weather demands additional cleansing, so enjoy your fruits and vegetables as a natural detox all day long.  And speaking about easy detox, a dash of lemon will be a great addition to any salad or drink.


If you live in a climate with high humidity, try to eat more watermelons - they can make a delicious breakfast or snack. As a natural diuretic food, watermelon increases urination and detox the system by flushing toxins from the body which is very beneficial for weight loss, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalance symptoms, such as bloating and water retention. Watermelons are also rich in lycopen needed for preventing heart disease, sun skin damage and cancer.

In Summer, we are supposed to eat more cooling foods that are easily digested, so mung beans, barley, rice, couscous, as well as sea vegetables can be added to salads if you want to avoid hot dishes. They are rich in fiber and will help you improve elimination, lose weight, reduce heart attack risk, lower high blood pressure.
 
Let us drink more water, juices and smoothies, eat more detox and cooling vegetables and fruits to feel better, get slimmer and look fabulous, shall we?

________________________________

Irina Wardas is a founder of NaturalCounselor.com – Holistic Health and Wellness Programs, Retreats and Radio Show for Women. As a certified holistic health and nutrition counselor, Irina helps her clients get healthier and happier with her unique approach of combining natural detox, weight loss and stress relief techniques and tools.

Irina is also a producer/host of “Feel and Look Fabulous with Irina”, the talk radio show dedicated to helping women feel and look fabulous naturally.    http://www.naturalcounselor.com

Pursuing Trivia

by Lorraine C. Brooks, MPH, CEAP

I recently read an article about Alzheimer’s Disease.  The article stated that research is being done which supports a theory that some forms of memory loss may be lessened if we begin to stimulate our brains when we are in our 40s and 50s, rather than waiting until the memory loss is more likely to be irreversible.  Apparently there is reason to believe that if you fuel your brain and keep it active, it will remain healthy longer.  Sort of like regular exercise.  I called my friend Liz to tell her this great news. Or was it Toni?  No, it was Liz.

“Liz, I have an idea. You know how we’re always saying that we can’t remember anything?  Well, I just read this article that says we have to give our brains regular exercise, you know, like with muscles, so they won’t atrophy.”

“Who is this?”

“Liz, it’s me. Lorraine.  Remember, we went to college together?”

“Oh yes…of course. But what’s all this about our brains and our muscles?  Didn’t I get a bicycle when you were into biking?  Didn’t I buy a catcher’s mitt when you decided that we should compete in the softball toss at the school reunion?   I still have that mark on my chin from the stitches.  Remember when we went to that Richard Simmons ‘Sweatin’ With the Oldies’ convention?  Little did we know that the ‘oldies’ he was referring to was US, not the music.  Remember that we couldn’t sit down for a week?   I have a closet full of fitness tapes, and I still weigh 200 pounds. Now you are actually suggesting that we need to exercise our brains?  I think I’ll pass.”

“No, no, listen. I read this article that said we need to use our brains more while we’re still young enough to remember things.”

“Have you looked at a calendar lately?  I think it’s too late.”

“Come on, Liz, let’s at least try this.  Maybe we should start to stimulate our brains NOW, so that we can postpone anything.  I was thinking about a game of Trivial Pursuit this Friday.”

“OK.  I guess I’ll try it.  I have nothing else to do anyway.  At least nothing I can remember.”

On Friday night, myself, Liz, and four other friends gathered at my house for a game of Trivial Pursuit.  In order to make it somewhat competitive, I chose the “Baby Boomer” edition, figuring that we had a chance to get some of the answers right without too much trouble.  This would bolster our egos, and also exercise our brains at the same time.  Simply brilliant, I thought!

We formed 3 teams of 2.  My partner was Eugenia.  Eugenia was smart (she is a social worker), so I figured this was a good coup.  My team had a pretty good chance of winning. After all I was the host, so I didn’t want to look bad.  Liz’s partner was Mattie, and Toni and Cheryl were the third team.  

Toni and Cheryl went first, and landed on “Television”.

“Who was the first star of the show ‘Larry’s World’?”

“OK, I know this”, says Cheryl.  “Give me a second. I know he was married to that woman who starred in that show about the husband with the 3 disabled kids...you know who I mean.  She did that commercial for that shampoo that made you sing in the shower…”

“Yeah, I do.  He was also in that movie with the guy who broke his arm in that accident on the set, and they had to replace him with that other guy who had that game show where people had to do all these crazy stunts with people they didn’t know…”

“Riiiight...he was diagnosed with cancer and then he made a miraculous recovery after going to Mexico for some alternative treatments with coffee grounds and yucca seeds. His son is a basketball player...”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.  And he is married to the girl who sings with that country and western group that recently sang at the White House…”

“No, that was that other group.  She plays the guitar, but she sings more pop stuff.  That song about platform shoes…”

“That’s who I meant! Now what is his name?”

“I know the name of the show, does that count?”

“No.  They told you the name of the show.  The question asks who HE is, not the name of the show.”

“I think I’m getting a charley horse in my cerebellum.”

“Me too.  Maybe we need to warm up first.”

“How do you warm up your brain?”

“Maybe pour hot coffee into your ears?”

“Come on now, let’s be serious.  Could we just focus?”

“OK, OK…back to the question.  What was the question again?”

“How many times did Babe Ruth strike out?”

“Oh, that’s easy. 1330.”

“Wait a minute. You know how many times Babe Ruth struck out, but you can’t answer the question, ‘who was the first star of Larry’s World’?”

“My son is a baseball stat freak.”

“Is he still seeing that girl you didn’t like?  The one with the tattoo on her nose?”

“No, my husband finally convinced him that she was a little flaky.  Now he’s seeing some chick who drives one of those little “green” things, you know, the ones that run on cow dung or something?”

“They don’t run on cow dung.  Don’t they use kitty litter?”

“Cows, cats…what’s the difference?  The point is, she’s green.”

“Must be the make up she uses.  I notice a little green tinge when I use that off-brand stuff.”

I sit back in my chair and wonder where it all went wrong.  I guess the important thing is that we were having fun.  After all is said and done, these are the women I will probably be sitting with in our rocking chairs on the porch of the nursing home. Hopefully we will still be having fun and looking back on the night we played Trivial Pursuit.  Or was it Yahtzee?

_______________________________

Lorraine C. Brooks, MPH, CEAP is a native New Yorker who is, among other things, an actor, writer, and producer of documentary films and videos.  Her works in progress include "Passion: Inside the Hearts of Women", and  the documentary film "Affectionately for Adelita: The Life and Work of Adele Geraghty".  She recently published her first book of poetry, Riding the Wave, BTS Books, 2010.  She is actively involved with Safe Horizons, and the Purple Ribbon Council, both of which assist victims and survivors of domestic violence. 

How to Enjoy the Sun and Protect your Skin!

by Candy Dye

Apriori Representative

Ever wonder how those beautiful, warm rays of the sun can have such long lasting and damaging effects on your skin?

Like a straightened rainbow, you can picture the spectrum of sunlight with the red, orange and yellow wavelengths being the longest and making up infrared light.  As wavelengths shorten, green and blue light speeds up into indigo blue and violet colors, which are visible and contain Ultraviolet A and Ultraviolet B rays.  These are the rays that cause sun damage to our skin.

UVA rays are the ones that cause tanning and premature skin aging – I like to think of the A in UVA for Aging. UVB rays, cause sunburn and skin damage, which I like to think of the B standing for Burn. Both types of radiation can lead to photoaging (wrinkles and leathery skin) and skin cancer.

Repeated sunburning speeds up the aging appearance of your skin, caused by loosening of your collagen and elastin which are like your own skin’s natural girdle or support, skin thinning with underlying blood vessels more visible, leathery and rough skin texture, and the appearance of freckles and age spots.

When I asked my dermatologist what he would say to you about preventing sun damage, he told me how surprised he was that so many people are more concerned with finding treatments for their wrinkles than preventing them. He recommended staying out of sun during peak hours of 10 am – 4 pm, regular use of sunscreen, reapplying every couple of hours, and keeping hydrated by drinking water throughout the day. Wearing a hat and lightweight clothing is great if you are very fair skinned.

When you are looking for a good SPF lotion, make sure you find one that provides protection for UVA AND UVB rays. In a recent article in The Orange County Register (June 16, 2010), “Shedding Light On Sunscreen Debate”, author Landon Hall says in discussing the right amount of SPF to use, “the level of protection climbs only a little the higher you go.  SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB rays, the short-wave radiation that causes sunburn: SPF 30 blocks 97%; and SPF 50 blocks 98%.  There’s no sunscreen that blocks 100% of the rays.  SPF doesn’t apply to UVA rays, which penetrate more deeply into the skin and can cause wrinkles, freckles and other signs of premature aging over time.  Shop for sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.”

Then there is the need for your daily dose of Vitamin D, which you can easily achieve with 15 minutes of sun exposure every day. Vitamin D is an important topic for another time, as it has great implications for our immune systems, and bones. Suffice it here to say that a little sun is good, and too much can be harmful.

Enjoy being outdoors during the warm months using preventative measures to protect your beautiful skin from long lasting damage and keep drinking water all day long!

Thanks for stopping by and “Making My Life Beautiful”!

 ______________________

Candy Dye loves everything about wellness and beauty which has brought her to Apriori Beauty!

Because the condition of your skin is a result of what is going on inside of your body, the science of Nutrigenomics - the effects of specific nutrients on your cells and genes, which can prevent degenerative diseases - is being embraced by both the scientific research world and skin care products industry.

This is the science upon which Apriori Beauty products are founded. "Apriori Beauty's mission is to help women look and feel beautiful with the purest, most-natural and most-innovative products and opportunity. When you look beautiful, you feel good. When you feel beautiful, you look good. And, when you can share this beauty with others, you can feel good inside and out. Beauty from personal success will also be key to success."

A Neonatal Nurse Practitioner and Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she also currently teaches in University of California Irvine's Nursing Program. Candy also shares health, wellness and beauty tips on her blog (http://www.candydye.com ) and on twitter (@candydye). This week she was listed as one of the Top 25 Nurse Practitioners on Twitter. WAY TO GO CANDY!!

When Will Society Stop Slamming Cougar Love?

Linda Franklin

After appearing on the  Joy Behar Show  recently, I got a flood of emails asking  - who was that guy on television with you? He most definitely raised the hackles on the backs of lots of women, but I guess he feels that's his job.  His name is Steve Ward and he is a  self-proclaimed “dating pathologist” who appears on VH''s Tough Love .

I got the impression that Mr. Ward doesn't like women very much and particularly women over 40. The Behar segment focused on cougar relationships and Steve doesn't approve of them. He thinks the guys are only there for sex and/or money, but who cares what he thinks?

I want to share with you just one of the hundreds of emails I received extolling the many virtues of cougar relationships. These fabulous females are sharing their lives with men who love and adore them. They have stopped listening to the advice of other people and started to listen to their own hearts. The results have been outstanding. What follows illustrates what I am saying.

"Linda, I haven't written to you in quite a while, but the catalyst for this note was your appearance on the Joy Behar Show the other night. As usual, you were well-spoken, fabulous and gorgeous, but that idiot who shared the space with you was so insulting and off base (I can't even remember his name), I just had to write and tell you that I couldn't believe it.)

"My husband is 48 and I will be 66 in March. We just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and have been together now for almost 22 years. Both of us are very active and enjoy life and enjoy each other. We are a loving, supportive couple. My husband is still advancing in his career and I am happily retired from mine. We adore my two daughters and four grandchildren. The age difference never bothers us, and he is definitely more mature than I am and always has been. Our marriage is better than most and I so resent that man's attitude." 

That's what I keep hearing from women all over the world. Can they all be smoking funny stuff? Cougar relationships, like all other relationships, flourish when you put in the time and effort to make them work. So Mr. Ward before you go around making ridiculous statements about who should love whom, maybe you had better take a closer look at what love really is.

______________________________

Linda Franklin is the author of 
Don't Ever Call Me Ma’am: The Real Cougar Woman Handbook 
http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Ever-Call-Me-Maam/dp/1599321610/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255663331&sr=1-1>
  and the founder of TheRealCougarWoman.c <http://www.therealcougarwoman.com/> 
 <http://www.more.com/7846/13653-defending-cougar-couples#>