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May 1, 2012

The easiest cleanse ever! 0

by Zia Wesley • Anti-aging, Articles, Health and Nutrition, Weight Control • Tags: , , , , ,

As a true foodie, it has always been hard for me to voluntarily stop eating for any reason other than serious illness. I also have not struggled with weight as many people have, so I am not good at dieting or any thing that requires denial of food. However, over the decades I have made lots of changes in my diet due either to illness, allergy, or my desire to improve some facet of my health. In the seventies, I tried a few different “cleansing fasts;” watermelon, grape, and lemonade with cayenne pepper and maple syrup. I think I lasted three days on the lemonade fast and after two days of battling starvation, finally felt really good on the third day. I did not try it again.

Being a long time practitioner of Vipassana and Metta meditation, over the years I have attended many ten and fourteen day silent retreats and only one of those was a Thai Forest Monk-style in which we only ate one meal a day. We awoke at 4;30am and began meditating at 5. I think the main meal was eaten around noon and the rest of the day was spent in meditation. I would fall exhausted into bed around 9pm. Under these circumstances, I had no problem eating only one meal a day. However, this took place in a setting bearing no resemblance to my normal life.

So, when presented with the opportunity to participate in a 14-day cleanse, I did not immediately jump for joy. However, my main focus for the past few months has been healing; physical and emotional. Since I have made such good progress in both areas, it seemed like a good time to stretch the limits even further. Fortunately, my boyfriend, Clark was equally enthusiastic about trying something new and that would make it easier for both of us.

We chose the Burn & Build Bodies 14-Day Anti-aging Cleanse because it is an unusually user-friendly program that is so well put together. We get to eat 3 small meals and 3 small snacks a day. All of the necessary supplements are provided as well as a powdered protein drink mix and a nifty shaker/drinking bottle. Unlike other protein powders, this one is vegan, soy and lactose free, sugar-free and very yummy!

Today is DAY #9 and we are doing really well! Here is the short form report: We are never hungry, have lots of energy, have lost fat, cellulite and pounds, sleep really well, don’t have any serious food cravings and my joint pain is gone. I miss salt and the salty snacks I’m used to grabbing throughout the day and Clark misses sauces, hamburgers and fries. both of us missed wine in the beginning. It helps to know that in a few days we can eat and drink whatever we want. Right now, the only things we have had to give up are alcohol, red meats, shell fish, bread, corn, white rice, refined sugar and some starchy vegetables like potatoes (we can eat sweet potatoes and yams though). It is interesting for me to see how much less food I am satisfied with and I love that my butt is nicely round again! Just in time for my new bikini.

The designers of this great cleanse are Dr. Steven Margolin and Rick Dinihanian and you can find lots of great information about food, diet, exercise, anti-aging and well-being on their web site www.burnandbuildbodies.com . Be sure to click on About to see Rick Dinihanian’s unbelievable before and after photos. OMG! Clark and I plan to do the 14-day cleanse twice a year from now on and I heartily recommend it to anyone who is interested in feeling and looking better at any age.

April 27, 2012

Painless hair removal 0

by Zia Wesley • What's Hot, What's Not

The Lumenis Light Sheer Duet Laser is the first one I have ever experienced that is truly painless. If you have ever tried permanent hair removal, you know that what they refer to as a “snap” can be more like a stab. In order to deal with it, I had to apply a topical numbing cream 40 minutes prior to treatment. The cream then needed to be covered with plastic wrap so it would not get onto clothes. That may not sound so bad, but think about prepping to have your bikini line worked on. I lived about a fifteen minute drive away from the medi-spa and fortunately, never got into an accident on the way to a treatment! Once at the spa, I had to begin icing and that’s always uncomfortable and messy. Because I had to drive to the appointment, I was unable to take a mild painkiller (or have a couple of cocktails). The entire experience was not one I looked forward to.

What a relief to finally have the Lumenis Duet! It is even painless on the face which, can be uber sensitive. And since it works faster than the old lasers, it’s less expensive. Now, if they could make it effective on peach fuzz…Hopefully, that’s the next big improvement.

Check with your local medi-spa to see if they offer the Duet. If not, call another spa!

 

April 25, 2012

Zia’s M.A.P. is live on Amazon 0

by Zia Wesley • Anti-aging, Anti-Aging, Articles, Exfoliants, Exfoliants, Eye Treatments, Eye Treatments, Fruit Acid/Enzyme Peels, Fruit Acid/Enzyme Peels, Health and Nutrition, Instant Face Lift, Masks, Serums, Skin Care, Sun Protection, Sun Protection, Teeth Whitenening, What's Hot, What's Not • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The first in a series of new e books, Zia’s M.A.P. (Master Anti-aging Plan) to Basic Skin Care, is now available on Amazon.  http://tinyurl.com/78d2spj

As a best-selling author of six “old fashioned books,” I am very excited to be reaching out to a new audience in a new way; e books. Several months ago, I bought a Kindle. Since I have always been a voracious reader of “real books” and the daughter of two voracious readers (I also spawned two of my own, daughter and granddaughter), I resisted making the change quite doggedly for a long time. I remember posing the same resistance when switching from a typewriter to a computer. Of course, as soon as I began writing on a computer (I had the first MAC), it changed my life. I can’t say that the Kindle has done that, but it has made reading easier in several ways: many books are heavy, and it’s instant gratification. I click on the Kindle store, choose the book I want to buy, place my order and within one minute, begin to read. It has also made traveling with books easier as I don’t have to pay extra baggage fees for the books in my suitcase. All of my books are in my purse. I should also mention the fact that I can bump the font size up and read without glasses!

I did not intend this blog to be an ad for Kindle but e readers truly are amazing and my new book is available on both the Kindle and Nook today! Wow, sometimes it really does feel like we’re living in the future.

So, please check out Zia’s M.A.P. and leave your comments here for me to see!

 

April 5, 2012

My Miraculous Transformation 10 0

by Zia Wesley • Uncategorized

April 4, 2012

It is appropriate that on 4/4 I begin WEEK 4 of Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. The past weeks were spent focusing on breaking the habits of my unconscious mind that kept me in a negative mode and it has been an extraordinary ride so far.

To recap: all of the symptoms I listed on day one, the physical manifestations in my body such as food allergies, and exhaustion are completely gone. While the arthritis pain is mostly gone. The biggest mental/emotional change is the disappearance of the negative chatter and negative, self-defeating beliefs, the shift from feeling like nothing was possible to feeling that everything is possible. I completed all of my unfinished projects including 3 e books that will be published as soon as the cover designs are complete.

Now, Dr. Dispenza says it is time to replace those old negative systems with new positive ones. Time to turn on my frontal lobe. Ooohhh baby! The first step in doing this exercise is asking myself questions that allow me to solidify my pictures of the “ideal me.” I spent almost two hours on this last night and discovered some common traits held by those people I know and admire, and as well as those I admire but do not personally know. The common traits are: fearlessness, extreme creativity, boundless energy, compassion, the ability to heal oneself and others, the courage to be oneself, abundant resources and allies, and the ability to give three dimensional reality to ones dreams. I also realized that when a person possess these qualities, they often possess the ability to offer them to millions of people world wide. They also appear to share the belief that the universe (God, higher power, spirit etc) always provides, an unshakeable tenet of my own throughout my twenties. Not coincidentally, my life during that decade was extraordinary in every way.

A few of the book’s questions follow. The answers are mine.

“How would my ideal self think?” From the perspective that anything is possible.

“What is the greatest ideal of myself?” A person who know she possesses the ability to create her life exactly as she wants it to be and acts on it daily.

“How would I talk to others if I were changed?” I would listen better and speak the truth from my heart…wisely and in a way that healed, contributed to, enriched and enlightened.

“What is my new attitude?” I can do it. I know how. It can happen. I love doing this. Isn’t life amazing? I never knew life could be this good.

In other words, I would be a positive force in the world. Big breath. WOW! Are you listening? I hope so because I am having such a good time and wish the same for you. My heart is bursting with love and possibility.

 

March 31, 2012

My Miraculous Transformation 9 0

by Zia Wesley • Articles, Health and Nutrition, Mind/Body Connection • Tags: , , , , , ,

Practicing Mental Yoga

When I was young, I was a serious student of ballet. At three years old I informed my parents of my  intention to become a professional ballerina. God bless my parents for immediately enrolling me in a ballet class in Katonah, New York. I adored the teacher, Mrs. Blacker, who gave each of us a small black and white photo of a famous ballerina at the end of each Saturday class. I kept these photos and studied them daily, imagining myself one day, in a similar costume and pose. My first mental rehearsals!

I continued Mrs. Blacker’s weekly classes and when I was nine years old, she moved me into a class of teenage girls becasue I had outgrown the abilities of my age group. She also put me “en point”, into toe shoes, for the first time. I excelled and within a year, Mrs. Blacker sadly informed my parents that I had become too advanced for her abilities. I needed a more professional teacher and she recommended Alexandra Alland, a former member of the Russian Ballet, now living in South Salem, New York.

The following week I auditioned for and was accepted by Madame Alland, who turned out to be one of the most influential role models in my life. The first thing she did was remove me from pointe saying that I was too young. Bless her for saving my feet from becoming totally deformed!

She was probably in her fifties when I began studying with her, and still incredibly graceful and agile. She bore a strong resemblance to Greer Garson, a popular actress in the fifties, and wore her silver hair in a braided crown…always. Despite her strictness and protocols for proper behavior at all times (there was no fooling around in her class), her compassion and gentle insistence on technique gave me a foundation for life unlike anything else. I learned to pay attention to each second and be totally present in each moment (like meditation practice), to learn a movement and then let my body take charge of the execution (installing subconscious programs to run the real-time actions like any athlete), to ground myself on the earth (Yoga, Tai Ch’i, Quigong), to honor the signals my body gave me (intuitive cognition), and to stand up and sit up straight (the most important anti-aging tip I know)! She was my first role model for aging without growing old.

Two years later she put me back en pointe. During a rehearsal for a solo dance performance, I slipped when landing from a Grande JETTÉ and landed directly on my left knee cap. As I hit the floor, I remember the thought that popped into my head, “I’ll never dance again.” As I lay slumped in a pile of tears and pain, Mrs. Blacker knelt down and whispered to me over and over, “You’re going to be alright. You’re going to be fine.” I think she called her husband to the studio to carry me to my Mother’s car. Then she told me to go home, lie down and put an ice bag on my knee, and every day for at least two hours, to mentally rehearse my dance performance over and over again in my mind.

My knee swelled up, got black and blue and hurt for at least a week. I missed two weeks of classes and rehearsals then went back (with a lot of trepidation) to pick up where I had left off. When I began to dance, I was amazed to not only have no pain but my muscles and body felt as if I had been rehearsing every day for the last two weeks!

Isn’t it strange how sometimes the greatest gift comes from adversity? I never forgot that mental rehearsal and have used it in different ways over the years. In 1976 I tore the tendons and ligaments out of my left knee and ankle in a skiing accident and ended up in a hip to toe cast for five weeks. I used the mental rehearsal to heal that and help keep my muscles from atrophy, although, when the cast was removed my leg looked like a limp pasta noodle. I had my first Rolphing session the day the cast came off and was running on the beach three days later. When I went back to my orthopedic surgeon the following week, he was floored to see me enter his office without crutches and when he examined my leg he almost screamed, “how did you do this? I’ve never seen any recovery like this!”

When I was thirteen, I did my first year of summer stock as a dancer and decided that I really wanted to be in Broadway musicals instead of ballet. At the age of nineteen, I got married, pregnant, and became a ballet teacher. Four years later, I was cast in my first Broadway musical as a dancer and singer.

So, here I am in 2012, using mental rehearsal to reprogram my brain from emotional damage! In my mind, I am doing Yoga postures like downward dog, on my arthritic pain-ridden hands, without pain. I firmly believe that if I practice this enough, I will be able to actually do Yoga again. Stay tuned.

March 31, 2012

My Miraculous Transformation 8 0

by Zia Wesley • Anti-aging, Articles, Excercise, Health and Nutrition, Mind/Body Connection • Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

On March 5th, I began week two of the program by making a list of several questions to ask myself during the day as a way of observing all aspects of my personality and paying attention to subconscious thoughts, reflexive behaviors and automatic, emotional reactions. When I noticed one of the above, I was to ask myself if the thought or emotion was true and if I wished to endorse it with my energy.

I was also assigned to think about new ways of being by asking myself what a better way to “be” in a certain (unwanted) situation might be. As I discussed in one of my first posts in this series, WWMD =What would Maya do? How would I be if I were (fill in the blanks with someone I admire), what would I say to myself? Throughout the following days I made notes in answer to questions like these and came up with the following answers:

I would write what truly moves me and find ways to put that out into the world to reach millions.

I would share my transformation with others so they might benefit and inspire them to “step up” their lives.

I would use my particular abilities and skills in the world.

I would FEEL as if life was amazing every day and live life from a position of limitless possibilities and choices.

I would live as if I already possessed the means to do everything I wanted to do.

How would my new self BE? Happy, loving, healthy, creative.

What would my new self FEEL? Excited about all of the new possibilities before me. Inspired, loving, joyous, compassionate, willing to lean and experiment.

What would my new ENERGY be like? UNLIMITED. Mental and physical energy would get recharged every day by my excitement and participation in life and by my creative projects.

Now that I had my list, I got to “rehearse” being, doing and feeling all of those things. Learning how to be this new self would allow me to make new subconscious “connections” in my brain and teach my body to create new experiences. One of the instructions said to “make thought more real than anything else;” something that has always come easily to me. As a child I was continually chastised for “daydreaming” in school. Who knew that was exactly what I was supposed to be doing?

Paying attention to my subconscious programs would make me aware of the old habits I no longer wanted to run and repetition of the new, desired habits would allow me to re-program myself as I wished to be. Sounded Perfect! All I had to do was be wide awake and then pretend!  I sort of made it a game and as I am writing this 3 weeks later, I can tell you that it worked!

 

March 31, 2012

My Miraculous Transformation 7 0

by Zia Wesley • Anti-aging, Articles, Excercise, Health and Nutrition, Mind/Body Connection • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

I want to continue to update the progress I made over the last few weeks. March 4, 2012

marked the end of my first week working with Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.

As a reminder, when I began the program, seven days earlier, I made a short list of the issues I wished to change, as follows:

Physical pain in my body and “blowing up” (severe abdominal bloating).

Technological inabilities with my computer, cell phone, etc.

Fear of not having enough money.

Limitations caused by losing  a significant amount of my money.

I worked with those specific issues during the daily meditations and writing exercises over the course of the following week. Each day became a new experience and each day I felt a little or a lot better. I gained a sense of well being quite consistently.

On March 4, 2012 I made a list of the changes I noticed as follows:

No more blowing up or “food sensitivities”. Now eating gluten, dairy, eggs, etc.

“Arthritic ” pains in my hands are reduced by about 85%.

I have gained patience, understanding, and ability on my computer, etc.

I get tired early at night and sleep soundly without any sleep aid.

“Nerve pains” in my teeth are gone.

Obsessive thoughts are gone and I can objectively deal with the lawsuit with my ex without spiraling down into any negative emotions.

I am excited about my book projects rather than feeling daunted by them.

I am excited about the possibility of returning to my novel (that I put down almost 4 years ago) with a new attitude.

I am allowing myself to think about traveling in the future.

I went to a Jazzercise class and actually enjoyed it!

 

March 30, 2012

My Miraculous Transformation 6 0

by Zia Wesley • Anti-aging, Articles, Excercise, Health and Nutrition, Mind/Body Connection • Tags: , , , , ,

9am March 30, 2012

I just realized that in the last five weeks, since beginning the practice of Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, I have shifted from feeling like it was impossible to do anything to wanting to do everything; from a place of zero creativity to unlimited creativity. This is extraordinary and has an “almost impossible even for me to believe” quality to it.

From a place of being unwilling and unable to write at all, I now write every day for 8 to 10 hours; my third e book is almost complete, my blog, product recommendations, and copious hours of research which, until recently I was loathe to do. I even comprehend several computer programs and can figure out how to get things done! My laptop has transformed from the enemy to my ally and friend. My new challenge is trying to find enough hours in the day to do what I want to do. Apparently, I am breaking lots of habits and truly no longer the self I used to be. This is very good news as that self had become something of a pain.

Yesterday, following a Jazzercise class at 10am, I got an idea for an anti-aging exercise program. This morning I woke up with the program clearly defined in my brain, brought my laptop into bed at 8 am and wrote it all out. And for those of you who do not know me well, the mere fact that I am awake and functioning at 8 am is a miracle unto itself!

Five weeks ago, I was complaining about not having access to Yoga or Pilates classes in the area where I now live. When I voiced these complaints to friends, they suggested I teach them myself. My reaction was “No way! That’s the last thing I’d ever do. I want to take a class not teach a class.” Now here I am, five weeks later, totally excited by the idea of creating a new type of exercise program that combines all of the things I love and all of the benefits of the different exercises I have personally practiced for over the last forty years. I will basically be teaching the things that have worked for me.

Now, I need to figure out what to call it. Any suggestions? E mail me at zia@ziawesley.com

March 28, 2012

Goodbye, and thanks for all the ads 0

by Zia Wesley • Articles, Mind/Body Connection, Product Reviews • Tags: , , ,

Following is my farewell letter to my loyal readers at examiner.com. It is the end result of a my fruitless attempts to update my outdated profile, and more importantly, to protest a banner ad for Borghese Cosmetics that ran across the top of my page. It was a frustrating, two-week back and forth discussion in which I submitted “tickets” to the examiner.com staff for requests, then waited 4 to 6 days for each response. My published letter follows:

I am sorry to say farewell to the loyal readers who have supported me for the last three years. However, I feel that examiner.com has begun to represent many of the things I find offensive about today’s world of mega-marketing. Mostly, I no longer trust their integrity, an attribute I have spent more than three decades personally championing. What is the point of reading an article if you can’t trust the author? As an author, what would be the point of displaying my point of view, my research, or my recommendations through a source that I personally did not trust?

I understand that internet sites need to earn revenues through ads. However, ads for products that I personally do not endorse, which appear on my personal page, are inappropriate, offensive, misleading, and disturbing to me. It is for this reason, that I am resigning as of today, as the San Francisco Fountain of Youth Examiner.

I hope you will all choose to follow me on my web site and blog, www.ziawesley.com where I have control over who does or does not appear above, below, and beside my name.

March 26, 2012

My Miraculous Transformation 5 0

by Zia Wesley • Articles, Health and Nutrition, Mind/Body Connection • Tags: , , , ,

March 2, 2012

As I may have mentioned initially, I began reading Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza a few days before my sixty-seventh birthday. I did the first guided meditation after reading part I of the book (as directed). The clear message I received at the end of that meditation was that I had been hiding from the world. More specifically, hiding my creative and healing abilities from the world and “staying safe.” At the end of the meditation, I realized that if I wished to live a full, abundant life, I needed to challenge myself by re-entering the world and giving all that I had to give. Also, if you read my last post, I envisioned Maya Angelou as the person whom I aspired to emulate.

The very last instruction for the guided meditation was to ask the universal mind to give me a sign that we had been in communication and that it heard me. The “sign” should be a “surprise “that would serve as clear confirmation.

About two hours after completing the meditation UPS delivered a birthday present from my dear friend, Carla. It was a wonderful book. When I opened the card it read (the italics are from the original card), “A woman who is convinced that she deserves to accept only the best challenges herself to give the best. Then she is living phenomenally.” Maya Angelou.

My jaw dropped and I just sat in my living room stunned for several minutes. Throughout the twenty years of my active professional career, I signed all of my letters and autographed books, “Only the Best, Zia” The message could not have been any clearer AND it came from Maya Angelou!

It was time for me to rejoin the world of the creatively living and I felt an energy that I had not felt for many years. I picked up Dispenza’s book and read a few more pages that instructed me to make a list of the issues I wished to change. There were four items: 1. Physical pain in my body and abdominal blowing up due to food sensitivities, 2. technological impatience and inabilities regarding use of computer, cell phone etc. 3. fear of not having enough money, 4. fear of failure based on bad decisions of the past.

When I looked at the list, I realized that FEAR was the basis of them all. Now, my assignment would be to allow myself to begin to imagine what it would be like to experience the opposites of these fears. This was initially made possible during my daily meditations and as each day passed, I became more and more aware of how my subconscious mind undermined me throughout the days. This was (and continues to be) quite an eye opener!

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