Brazilian Bikini Body Program
Casa Naranja members get ready to live “la vida Brazil” in 30 days. This program is a must if you want the body, mind, and lifestyle querida Brazilians are known for. We are converts to the Brazilian way and want to spread this gospel; we have 3 copies to give away.

> Brazilian Bikini Body Program

The Secret
It may appear that we are riding on Oprah’s coattails, but we have a secret of our own. We discovered this gem during the summer (yes yes we know we should have told you earlier but we just wanted to make sure it was truly life altering). Since then, we have purchased the book, audio book, and DVD. We kid you not; this compelling story will lead you to reevaluate almost every area of your life.

Move It!
Except for one person's vow to "eat more desserts" in '07 (yeah, you know who you are!), all the resolutions emailed to me after last week's e-tip contained some variation of "exercise more". And what a great resolution that is....if it sticks.

Ways not to be the January-only exerciser who's lazy again by March: Only sign onto a gym near your home or workplace. If it's a schlep, you'll of course find excuses not to go.

Shake it up with a new-to-you class now and then. At Crunch, I have a slew of creative classes to choose from: "Buff Yoga", "Cycle Karaoke", "Cardio Striptease", etc. Check out your own gym's schedule...and be adventurous! For an extra idea, Hoebel Fitness leads a wicked vinyasaBrasil class (a yoga/capoeira blend) in NYC and LA.

Work it outside the gym: dance, yoga, pilates, martial arts, indoor tennis, etc.

Work it outside, period, especially on those freakily warm winter days we've been having here on the East Coast. Or on normal winter days, just bundle up. Skiing, snowboarding, jogging, hiking, biking...and even good ol' walking, which is highly underrated.

Work it at home. Jump rope, borrow workout videos/DVDs from the library, or download audio workouts off iTunes or iAmplify (also perfect for travel).

Enlist the help of a personal trainer, even if only temporarily, to help customize a workout and keep you on your toes.

Consider a 2007 Fitness or Yoga Passbook ($75 each) for access to oodles of gyms and yoga studios in either New York, L.A. or Chicago.

Mix softer activities with more vigorous ones to keep your body in balance. If none of the above ideas click, maybe you're more in line with Cheryl Tiegs, who was quoted as saying, "It's very important to have the right clothing to exercise in. If you throw on an old T-shirt or sweats, it's not inspiring for your workout."

jm@jennifermedley.com
646.536.3799
www.jennifermedley.com

A High Design Workout - Yoga Is Looking Good

Now, we know that some of you are (gulp) healthy and like to engage in... um, exercise.

You know how you're all sweaty and trying to get into downward dog and then, just as you put your hand down the mat slips on the floor and you totally miss nailing the position? Try the skidless, colorful (the colors correspond to your charkas) mats from Yogitoes. These terry cloth yoga mats are covered with plastic nubs that'll keep you from sliding about or having to use those slightly gross gym mats.

When it's time to mediate (which we actually approve of as it involves not moving) we recommend using the eco-friendly Thai Meditation Platform to lessen the fatigue on your legs and posture so you can prolong your meditation. This eco-friendly mat is made by actual Buddhist artisans who use pesticide-free plants like cork and jute.

The latest entry into the yoga sneaker game are the Mescolisi Shoes, which are perfect for fans of outdoor exercise. Lined with flexible materials, these good looking kicks are made from recycled synthetics and cotton with rubber insoles that promote "full foot articulation."

As you know, we're fashion freaks, which is why we're psyched to see Stella McCartney has designed a yoga mat with matching mesh bag. The set features a lavender non-slip surface and a silk ribbon strap. High design has just smacked into your third eye and doesn't it look good?

Visualize and Affirm Your Desired Outcomes

A Step-by-Step Guide
You have within you an awesome power that most of us have never been taught to use. Elite athletes use it. The super rich use it. And peak performers in all fields are now starting to use it. That power is called visualization. The daily practice of visualizing your dreams as already complete can rapidly accelerate your achievement of those dreams. Visualization of your goals and desires accomplishes four very important things.

1. It activates your creative subconscious which will start generating creative ideas to achieve your goal.
2. It programs your brain to more readily perceive and recognize the resources you will need to achieve your dreams.
3. It activates the law of attraction, thereby drawing into your life the people, resources, and circumstances you will need to achieve your goals.
4. It builds your internal motivation to take the necessary actions to achieve your dreams.

Visualization is really quite simple. You sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and imagine — in as vivid detail as you can — what you would be looking at if the dream you have were already realized. Imagine being inside of yourself, looking out through your eyes at the ideal result.

Mental Rehearsal
Athletes call this visualization process “mental rehearsal,” and they have been using it since the 1960s when we learned about it from the Russians. All you have to do is set aside a few minutes a day. The best times are when you first wake up, after meditation or prayer, and right before you go to bed. These are the times you are most relaxed. Go through the following three steps:

1. Imagine sitting in a movie theater, the lights dim, and then the movie starts. It is a movie of you doing perfectly whatever it is that you want to do better. See as much detail as you can create, including your clothing, the expression on your face, small body movements, the environment and any other people that might be around. Add in any sounds you would be hearing — traffic, music, other people talking, cheering. And finally, recreate in your body any feelings you think you would be experiencing as you engage in this activity.

2. Get out of your chair, walk up to the screen, open a door in the screen and enter into the movie. Now experience the whole thing again from inside of yourself, looking out through your eyes. This is called an “embodied image” rather than a “distant image.” It will deepen the impact of the experience. Again, see everything in vivid detail, hear the sounds you would hear, and feel the feelings you would feel.

3. Finally, walk back out of the screen that is still showing the picture of you performing perfectly, return to your seat in the theater, reach out and grab the screen and shrink it down to the size of a cracker. Then, bring this miniature screen up to your mouth, chew it up and swallow it. Imagine that each tiny piece — just like a hologram — contains the full picture of you performing well. Imagine all these little screens traveling down into your stomach and out through the bloodstream into every cell of your body. Then imagine that every cell of your body is lit up with a movie of you performing perfectly. It’s like one of those appliance store windows where 50 televisions are all tuned to the same channel.

When you have finished this process — it should take less than five minutes — you can open your eyes and go about your business. If you make this part of your daily routine, you will be amazed at how much improvement you will see in your life.

Create Goal Pictures
Another powerful technique is to create a photograph or picture of yourself with your goal, as if it were already completed. If one of your goals is to own a new car, take your camera down to your local auto dealer and have a picture taken of yourself sitting behind the wheel of your dream car. If your goal is to visit Paris, find a picture or poster of the Eiffel Tower and cut out a picture of yourself and place it into the picture. With today’s technology, you could probably make an even more convincing image using your computer.

Create a Visual Picture and an Affirmation for Each Goal
We recommend that you find or create a picture of every aspect of your dream life. Create a picture or a visual representation for every goal you have — financial, career, recreation, new skills and abilities, things you want to purchase, and so on. When we were writing the very first Chicken Soup for the Soul® book, we took a copy of the New York Times best seller list, scanned it into our computer, and using the same font as the newspaper, typed Chicken Soup for the Soul into the number one position in the “Paperback Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous” category. We printed several copies and hung them up around the office. Less than two years later, our book was the number one book in that category and stayed there for over a year!

Index Cards
We practice a similar discipline every day. We each have a list of about 30-40 goals we are currently working on. We write each goal on a 3x5 index card and keep those cards near our bed and take them with us when we travel. Each morning and each night we go through the stack of cards, one at a time, read the card, close our eyes, see the completion of that goal in its perfect desired state for about 15 seconds, open our eyes and repeat the process with the next card.

Use Affirmations to Support Your Visualization
An affirmation is a statement that evokes not only a picture, but the experience of already having what you want. Here's an example of an affirmation:

I am happily vacationing 2 months out of the year in a tropical paradise, and working just four days a week owning my own business.

Repeating an affirmation several times a day keeps you focused on your goal, strengthens your motivation, and programs your subconscious by sending an order to your crew to do whatever it takes to make that goal happen.

Expect Results
Through writing down your goals, using the power of visualization and repeating your affirmations, you can achieve amazing results. Visualization and affirmations allow you to change your beliefs, assumptions, and opinions about the most important person in your life — YOU! They allow you to harness the 18 billion brain cells in your brain and get them all working in a singular and purposeful direction.

Your subconscious will become engaged in a process that transforms you forever. The process is invisible and doesn’t take a long time. It just happens over time, as long as you put in the time to visualize and affirm, surround yourself with positive people, read uplifting books and listen to audio programs that flood your mind with positive, life-affirming messages.

Repeat your affirmations every morning and night for a month and they will become an automatic part of your thinking — they will become woven into the very fabric of your being.

© 2006 Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and the nation's leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield.

> www.JackCanfield.com