We’ve already gone green at home – with our reusable grocery bags, compact fluorescent light bulbs and energy efficient appliances.  Now we can bring our good habits to the office, too.  Here are some tips to get green at work:

-Go paperless.  Whenever possible, keep files on the computer, rather than on paper.  This also helps keep clutter under control!  Review correspondence onscreen rather than printing it out.  Send e-mails instead of letters.

-Save Energy.  Put computers, printers and fax machines into sleep mode whenever possible.  Even better, unplug them, or turn the power strip off, at the end of the day.  Save energy, and also save money!

-Turn on a new light.  Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents, or use an LED desk lamp that consumes minimal energy.  Keep lights off in unoccupied areas.  Increase the amount of natural light in the office by keeping curtains and blinds open – this also helps to improve productivity.

-Recycle.  Make it easy for everyone to recycle papers by providing recycling bins.  Look for recycled paper for printing.  Use printers that can print double-sided to minimize paper use.

-Bring in the Green.  Potted plants help to filter the air and boost oxygen levels.  They also help to remove pollutants from the air, and add liveliness and color.

-Make Green a Policy.  A study from the Society for Human Resource Management showed that 43% of companies have no environmental policies in place, even though many companies have shown improved employee satisfaction and a stronger public image as a result of implementing a policy.  Share tips with your co-workers, and post ideas.  Get everyone on the same page.

When I was at the Book Expo America this year a small blue book with a Tiffany blue cover caught my eye: “The Spiritual Rules of Engagement: How Kabbalah Can Help Your Soul Mate Find You” by Yehuda Berg.  I enjoyed learning about Kabbalah in the context of relationships, since I believe that life is all about relationships.  The ancient wisdom really resonates with so much of what we need in our life today.  It talks about how love is not about receiving, it’s about giving, without expectations.  And knowing how much pleasure your partner gets from the act of giving, by receiving you are giving – so now you are both sharing with each other, and that is a beautiful thing.  Love is about learning and growing together, and building a strong relationship by working on it together.

Life is all about relationships.  Are you aware of your emotional relationship with money?  Financial advisor Brent Kessel says that financial success and security is “not about the money.”  Instead it’s about our relationship with money, and when we can understand how that operates, then we can take action to achieve our financial goals.  In his book, he outlines eight financial archetypes and explains how typical ingrained behaviors and beliefs about money can prevent us from being truly financially free.  For example, some of us are caretakers, or savers, while others are pleasure seekers.  Some people are idealists who place greater value on creativity or compassion than on finances, and others obsess about building empires.  “It’s Not About the Money” really offers a fresh approach to money, providing information and resources as well as exercises and meditations.

Avocados may be high in fat, but it’s a good fat, the heart-healthy monounsaturated kind.  They also contain beta-siterol, which is a plant sterol that may actually help lower cholesterol.  Avocados are one of the world’s most perfect foods because they are rich in nutrients like vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, lutein (good for eye health), and fiber.  It’s easy to incorporate avocados into your diet: Instead of mayo, spread a little avocado on your sandwich!  Add a few chunks of avocado to your salad.  Use avocado slices as a garnish on soup.  Make a yummy guacamole with mashed avocado, a little green onion and garlic and some diced tomatoes – add cilantro to taste.  Or make a veggie pizza with fresh avocado on top!  There are many varieties of avocado, but generally, an avocado is ripe when it yields to gentle but firm pressure.  Don’t refrigerate avocados until they are completely ripe.  If you’re eating half an avocado and saving the rest for later, keep the seed with the saved half, and spread a little lemon juice over the exposed part before wrapping to prevent the iron content from turning the avocado brown.

I write all the time about the benefits of meditation.  You already know how wonderful it is and all the great things it can do for your life.  But here’s some news: scientists can now see the benefits of meditation in the blood!  It’s true.  In a study published in the Public Library of Science, researchers have discovered that people who meditate can better suppress stress and that this shows with fewer stress-related genes in their blood.  When they trained a group of non-meditators how to meditate, they saw a significant decrease in the stress-related genes in their blood.  Another study from the University of Wisconsin found that people who were taught to meditate after a vaccination developed more antibodies to the virus than people who did not meditate afterward.  Dr. Dean Ornish from the University of California at San Francisco is studying the effects of meditation on prostate cancer.  His research is helping to show that meditation, combined with better nutrition and moderate exercise, can favorably alter gene expression in prostate tissue.

psmeditation.com

About 45% of adults snore occasionally, and 25% snore on a regular basis.  Problem snoring is more common in men, people who are overweight, and snoring can get worse as we get older.  Snoring can affect our health, because we don’t sleep as well at night.  At it can also affect our relationships, because many couples can’t even sleep in the same room at night because of snoring.  But there are some ways that we can stop snoring.  Here are some tips from the American Academy of Otolaryngology and the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center:

1. Change your sleep position.  Snoring most often occurs when you are lying on your back.  In this position the tongue falls towards the throat.  When you sleep on your side, air gets through more easily.

2.  Lose 10% of your body weight.  Bulky neck tissue, which comes with excess weight, increases snoring.  Even a modest weight loss will help with this.

3.  Avoid alcohol and sedatives.  Both alcohol and sedatives such a sleeping pills can inhibit breathing and lead to snoring.

4.  Use steam before bed.  Nasal congestion is a big cause of snoring.  To reduce congestion inhale some steam, or take a steam shower.

5.  Try nasal strips.  Over the counter nasal strips have been found to provide some relief from congestion and may also help prevent snoring.

Snore No More Pillow

Runes are an ancient Germanic alphabet, used for writing and divination.  The word “rune” means mystery, or secret.  The runes originated in northern Europe about 100 B.C.  Runic inscriptions were found in North America, leading to speculation that the Vikings arrived in the Americas long before Columbus did.  All of the symbols are made with straight lines, because they were originally cut into wood or stone.  The Rune stones are a kind of oracle that can be used when seeking advice.  They aren’t so much a fortune-telling device, as they are an analytical tool.  You state a circumstance, ask a question, and pull a stone out of the bag.  Each stone is imprinted with a symbol, which corresponds to a word or phrase.  You look up the meaning, and then figure out how it applies to your situation.

The Healing Runes (box set)

In the Chinese tradition, Quan Yin is the goddess of compassion.  Her name means “one who hears the cries of the world.”  She has a sweet and merciful disposition, and is recognized and loved all over the world.  Quan Yin is known as a bodhisattva, a being who chooses not to enter Nirvana in order to come to the aid of others.  The story is told that she was at the gate of enlightenment, Nirvana, which opened for her because she had led such a pure and virtuous life.  But as she stood before the threshold, she heard cries of suffering coming from the world’s beings.  She was so profoundly affected by this pain that her heart shook, and she could not yet leave the world behind.  She took the vow of a bodhisattva: “I will not reach final liberation until all other beings have been liberated.”

Did you know that about one third of the space in landfills is taken up with organic waste from our yards and kitchens?  This waste is perfect for composting!  By spending just a little time, we can help out with the landfill problem and also enrich the soil and improve the health of the plants in our own backyard.  Compost is best when made up of a combination of “browns” (carbon rich materials) and “greens” (nitrogen rich materials).  For browns think dried leaves, straw and wood chips.  For greens think grass clippings, and kitchen scraps.  To collect kitchen scraps, keep a small compost pail on your kitchen counter, and bring it outside to your compost pile every few days.  Keep the pile covered with browns to reduce flies and critters from coming around.  Good kitchen compost material includes melon rinds, carrot peels, tea bags, banana peels, and apple cores.  If you want to use egg shells, crush them up because they decompose slowly.

Ceramic Compost Keeper

Hamsa means “five” in Hebrew.  The hamsa is a symbol used in charms and jewelry for protection, it is also known as the protecting hand.  An alternative Jewish name for the hamsa is the hand of Miriam, referring to Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron.  One of the Islamic names for the charm is the hand of Fatima, in reference to Fatima Zahra, the daughter of Muhammad.  In recent years, peace activists in the Middle East have chosen to wear the hamsa as a symbol of the similarities of origins and tradition between the Islamic and Jewish faiths.  The hamsa can be worn with the fingers pointing up or down.

Silver Hamsa pendant