Hammocks Create a Stress Free Zone – Home-Improvement
Hammocks Create a Stress Free Zone
Stress is all around us, from the office to the front yard and everywhere in between. Homeowners are buying hammocks and porch swings to create that stress free zone they need to unwind after a busy day. All hammocks and porch swings are not created equal. A hammock can come with a stand for easy set up anywhere such as at poolside or by a lake; or others are hung between trees or from a ceiling. You will have to decide what type and style you want as there are so many sizes and types available. You might also want a chair style that can be hung from the ceiling. There are different sizes available in these as well. These are especially nice if you live in an apartment or townhouse. A hammock and swing are great sources of leisure for any backyard or porch. Combine a quality hammock with all of your other patio furniture and create a getaway in your very own backyard that rivals any trip to the islands. Hammock stands can be placed anywhere in your backyard to create the perfect oasis setting.Some basic things to consider before buying a hammock, hammock stands, or porch swings are?? Size
? Construction quality
? General styling
? Care
? materialsSome hammocks are washable, but you want to make sure that you tie the two ends together first before putting it in the washing machine. You also want to enclose it in a pillowcase before washing and use a mild detergent. Keeping the hammock properly dry is a consideration because you do not want it to mildew. If your hammock does not have removable spreader bars, your only option for cleaning is to place it on the driveway and hose it down. Again, allow enough time in the sun for proper drying.Hammock accessories are a key source for creating that perfect stress free zone. Hammock stands, hammock pillows, outdoor swing cushions, and patio swing, are just a few of the options that are available. The pillows come in various shapes and sizes for your style of hammock. You will want to consider the type of element protection that is afforded the hammock. You will want a pillow that is good for indoor and outdoor use. The goal of the pillow is to keep your head from resting on the bar. You might also want added comforted by purchasing a hammock pad. This will increase your hours of enjoyment. A hammock blanket is lightweight and is great for cool evenings by the lake. Add in the misters and cup holders, and you will never want to leave your backyard. Take a deep breath, and let your cares melt away. Go outside on the porch and swing along in the breeze. Spend time in a hammock with a hammock stands, or porch swing, add a little music, and a cold glass of lemonade and you have everything you need to stay in the zone.Bev Hlavka is a successful freelance writer offering guidance and suggestions for consumers buying outdoor kitchens, hammocks, picnic tables and more. Her many articles can be found at http://www.patio-furniture-4u.com. She gives information and tips at http://www.patio-furniture-4u.com/Hammocks.htm to help you save money and make informed buying decisions.
Stepping Outside the WAHM Zone – Internet-Marketing
Stepping Outside the WAHM Zone
Often times on message boards you'll see several reps from the same company, making it difficult for all reps to gain enough sales. We've also seen issues where some reps dominate certain boards or even go so far as to steal potential customers and recruits. While there is no real easy answer to this problem, there are certain things you can do to gain your fair share of sales.But wait, if there are at least 2 or 3 other reps from the same company on all the top wahm message boards you visit, how are you going to gain all the sales possible?Very easily - visiting at least ONE message board that isn't related to the wahm community. Believe it or not, there ARE message boards our there that don't have anything to do with business! We aren't saying you shouldn't be a member of a wahm community, because this is important to your growth as a business woman and DOES have major benefits to you. However, advertising to others in business is not going to create the most sales for you. What will create more sales is being an active member of a community that's filled with your potential customers without a competitor in sight.Finding other communties outside the wahm community isn't as difficult as you think. There are many, many other kinds of groups, message boards, and websites that could be of interest to you and your future customer. Take a minute to do some non-business surfing on the web and see what you come up with.About the Authors: Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank are two busy wahms, and the owners of Direct Sales Helpers. Learn how you can be successful in your company by visiting: http://www.DirectSalesHelpers.com
Getting into The Zone with The Alexander Technique
Getting into The Zone with The Alexander Technique
Have you ever attempted to perform a simple act and completely failed? From completely mistiming a shot to losing balance at a crucial moment, the outcome may have fallen short of our intention and expectation. In contrast there are times when everything goes just right, every act is carried out to perfection with little perceived effort. Why should this be the case? If we are capable of achieving feats of brilliance one moment, why do we fail so comprehensively the next? What condition is present one moment and gone the next? Athletes refer to the later as 'The Zone ' and spend their lives trying to reach this subliminal level.The elusiveness of the zone gives us a clue into its nature. Athletes experiencing these moments cannot explain how they came to be there, and report that the state is lost as soon as they become aware of being in it. From their observations it appears that 'being in the zone' involves integration of the conscious and unconscious aspects of movement, that is the voluntary decision to act and the reflex that facilitates the action. Becoming conscious of the moment seems to destroy it. A comparable situation is the act of falling asleep, as soon as we become aware we are about to fall asleep we interrupt the process. We cannot do anything to directly make ourselves fall asleep. All we can do is to stop doing what may be preventing the process. At an early age I learnt you do not fall asleep any quicker on Christmas Eve by closing you eyes tighter.The zone is described in a paper titled: The Achievement Zone as: -... a special place where performance is exceptional and consistent, automatic and flowing. An athlete is able to ignore all the pressures and let his or her body deliver the performance that has been learned so well. Competition is fun and exciting. (Murphy, 1996)Sport Psychologist, Kenneth Ravizza, conducted one of the first studies into the zone in 1977 called: 'A subjective study of the athlete's greatest moment in sport'. He studied the experiences of twenty top athletes during their moments of glory and found that the experience was: - ? temporary and of relatively short duration; non-voluntary and not induced at will; and unique. He found that it required many years of practice before they could enter the zone. He defines the common characteristics of the experience as: -? focusing on the present moment, effortless merging of action and awareness, loss of personal ego, sense of control, clear feedback, and an intrinsic reward system."A study conducted at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, questioned athletes from a number of sports about their experience in the zone. In a paper titled: 'The Zone : Evidence of A Universal Phenomenon for Athletes Across Sports', by Young and Pain (1999), the conclusion drawn was that regardless of the sport, athletes appear to experience the same 'heightened state of consciousness'. The participants used words such as "peak", "perfect moments", "mindfulness" and "flow" to describe their time in the zone.The words "let", "flow" and "mindfulness" are not generally associated with effort and pushing to the limit. Could being in 'the zone' involve a state of non-interference with movement? A balanced state that promotes optimum integration of the postural reflexes, consciousness and appropriate use of learnt patterns. This could explain why it requires years of practice before the zone is experienced.Unfortunately because we are unaware of how we interfere with the natural mechanisms, time spent in the zone is rare and brief. If we learn to first identify what it is we do to interfere, and then how to prevent it, we may increase our chances of making the zone.One of the best methods to experience 'being in the moment' is The Alexander Technique, a much undervalued thought and movement system. Using these technique sports people regardless of ability can learn to develop awareness skills that can help identify performance-limiting habits. It is only once we have become conscious of these habits can we then start to change them. Athletes who have trained using The Alexander Technique include Matthew Pincent and his gold medal UK rowing crew at the Athens Olympice 2004.For further information see www.artofperformance.co.ukRoy Palmer is a teacher of The Alexander Technique and specialises working with sports people to help improve performance whilst reducing the risk of injury. He writes for many internet forums and magazines and is the author of 'The Performance Paradox':Challenging the conventional methods of Sports Training and Exercise. For further information visit the website at http://www.artofperformance.co.uk