Different Types Of Buddhas

November 21, 2014November 19, 2014drstaceynaito 2 Comments

Check out this link: http://feng-shui.lovetoknow.com/Buddha_Statues_for_the_Home_and_Garden

I have copied and pasted the information on the different types of Buddhas which is presented in the article from the link above. There are suggestions on where to put each type of Buddha in your home, based on Feng Shui principles.

Meditating Buddha
This statue style most commonly found in Buddhist altars in the home. These statues typically render Buddha in a sitting position with both hands in a meditative position called “Cosmic Mudra. The hands overlap each other. The left hand is placed on top of the right one so the thumb tips touch to form an oval, symbolizing the turning of one’s attention inward.

The statue should face the east direction since the Buddha meditated on the sun rising in his search for enlightenment.

Rubbing his belly will bring greater good luck and fortune.

Laughing Buddha
In western culture, the laughing Buddha is probably the most widely recognizable and used. It’s also known as the good luck, prosperity or abundance Buddha. It depicts Buddha in his later years as happy and with a large belly from an abundant lifetime. He’ll either be in a sitting position or standing with his hands over his head supporting a real or imaginary Ru-Yi pot (vessel or bowl of plenty).

This statue is affectionately dubbed Happy. It’s tradition to rub his belly to ensure even greater luck is bestowed upon you. Place this statue in your personal wealth corner or southeast sector of your home. It’s great for an office on the north wall facing those who enter.

Other variations include:

Laughing Buddha with children at his feet: Place in west sector (descendants) of garden facing your home. Also use in same sector inside your home.
Traveling Buddha: A variation of the laughing Buddha as a monk features a cotton-sack over one shoulder or tied to a stick. He holds a wealth ball in his other hand. It is an excellent choice if you travel for work. Place in your office in north sector.
Spiritual Journey Buddha: This is another version of the Traveling Buddha. He carries a gourd (wu-lou) of enlightenment suspended from a stick while holding a fan in his other hand and wears a prayer bead necklace. Place in northeast sector (education) or southwest (love and relationships).
Blessing Buddha
The Blessing pose depicts Buddha bestowing fearlessness (upper hand gesture) and compassion (lower hand). Good areas inside the home for this statue include the office and den. You can apply this as a cure for any area inside or outside your home that suffers from weak or afflicted chi due to flying star placement.

Teaching Buddha
Known as Dharma Chakra Buddha, the Teaching Buddha statue is in a sitting or standing position. The most popular is the sitting pose, since this is the position the Buddha assumed when teaching. This is an important period in the Buddha’s life. It symbolizes his sharing of the knowledge he’d gained after his enlightenment in the deer park, Sarnath, located in Uttar Pradesh, India with his disciples.

Since the Buddha’s teachings came from his heart, the both hands are in front of his chest. The index fingers and thumbs touch to form a circle, representing his teaching of the Wheel of Dharma (union of wisdom and method). The other three fingers of both hands always remain extended.

This is an excellent choice for the northeast (education) sector of both inside your home or office and your garden.

Some statues depict the thumb touching the ring finger instead of the forefinger. This changes the meaning to one of good fortune. This style can be placed in the north sector (career) or southeast sector (wealth).

Long Life Buddha
This Buddha sits with the bag of blessings by his side or may hold the bag in his lap. In one hand, he cradles a wealth ball raised in front of him and a Ru-Yi pot in his other hand. Place in your home or garden in the east (health), west (children, descendants) or southeast (wealth) sector. You can also place it in your office in these directions.

Happy Home Buddha
The seated Happy Home Buddha holds a parasol over his shoulder. Place inside and outside your home in the southwest sector (relationships).

Earth Buddha
Also known as the Calling Earth to Witness, the Earth Buddha sits on the ground with his right hand extended so his fingers point to the earth beneath him. This statue honors the time when Buddha was repeatedly tempted by the demon, Mara, but resisted and finally reached enlightenment.

You can place this statue in any sector inside or outside your home that you’re being tempted to reject. If you’re having difficulty in a relationship, place it in the southwest sector to bolster your resolve and commitment. If you’re becoming complacent at work, put this in the north sector (career) to strengthen your dedication to your job.

Reclining Buddha
Buddha awaits his transition from this life to death, viewed as a mere transition into a different state of being. if you’re in a transition period, this is a good choice for inside your home or in a garden.

Place in the sector that represents the area of your transition. For example, place in north sector of home or office if changing jobs. If a relationship has ended, place in southwest sector. If you’re a new empty nester, place statue in west sector to ease this life-changing transition.

Are You A Sponsored Athlete Or An Unpaid Salesperson?

November 19, 2014November 16, 2014drstaceynaito Leave a comment

Original post can be found here:

http://www.rxmuscle.com/blogs/the-business-fitness-modeling-and-showbiz/11790-are-you-a-sponsored-athlete-or-an-unpaid-salesperson.html

Most sports supplement companies and other fitness related companies aggressively promote their products through athletes who can sing the praises of their benefits. Who could be better at describing the efficacy of a product and how it enhances training or recovery than an athlete who not only already uses those types of products, but someone who has a following and who can convince new customers to purchase from the company which they represent?

Here’s where things get problematic. The pool of bodybuilding and fitness athletes is pretty massive, and the waters are teeming with athletes who are anxious to get their so-called “big break”. As a result of this, savvy marketing teams from fitness related companies often sweep up these individuals because they are enthusiastic and can propel a brand’s exposure. All the company needs to do is to offer some free product to the athlete and provide instructions on how to use social media to get the word out that these products exist. Then the athletes post images of themselves holding or using products, and add affiliate codes so that any orders which are generated through that athlete’s post are credited to the athlete. This can be a great way for an athlete to make some extra money while competing or chasing down fitness related gigs and projects.

It is important to bear in mind that such athletes really aren’t sponsored, but are instead unpaid salespeople who provide free advertising and generate sales via social media posts which direct followers to product websites. Yes, they get commissions if they have affiliate codes, but such commissions are nothing to write home about unless someone is really blowing the roof off in sales. This is in stark contrast to a true athlete sponsorship, in which an athlete is paid to represent the brand as a brand ambassador. The sponsored athlete is chosen for his or her physique, performance history and awards, facial good looks, charisma, enthusiasm, and often the size of his or her social media following. Usually a sponsored athlete signs a contract which stipulates that he or she will receive a certain amount of free product, and in most cases will also receive financial compensation which is either paid via a monthly salary or via a contest stipend. Though the athlete usually agrees to a set requirement or recommendation to provide social media posts for the company at regular intervals, the company pays the athlete for his or her trouble. Personal appearances and events are also part of the sponsored athlete agreement and clearly described in the written contract. The sponsored athlete is compensated for use of his or her likeness on advertising materials as well.

Obviously it is a far better deal to become an official sponsored athlete for a company. Otherwise, you are just providing free advertising and cheap labor in exchange for products which are sold at a significant markup from what they are manufactured at. If you post a selfie with product that somehow goes viral, the company will certainly love the boost, but I doubt you will ever see any type of compensation if you aren’t a sponsored athlete, which means you provided your likeness for free. The truth of the matter is that there are only a handful of athlete sponsorships to go around, with a massive surplus of athletes vying for those spots. The athletes who end up getting sponsorships stand out from the crowd in some way, or fit a brand’s look and philosophy so well that it makes sense to bring them on board to represent a brand. The rest of the athletes must navigate through all the companies out there to try to find an arrangement which benefits them in some way. Sometimes it is easy to sell a product, usually because the athlete enjoys using it so much that he or she doesn’t mind providing free advertising or labor.

Sometimes a supplement company will launch a contest which is based on social media posts. One company, which shall remain unnamed, launched a huge campaign this year that was patterned on this idea, and decided to award 5 of the entrants $10,000. Sure, that sounds like a good chunk of change, but if there were 8,000 entrants, then 7,995 walked away with nothing. At the end of the campaign, the company got tons of free advertising and all those hashtags they requested for “tracking” purposes also propelled their brand in a huge way. To be honest, this is a brilliant marketing tactic, but not the best move for the majority of athletes who participated. I have also seen companies launch contests in which entrants must purchase a product, then post on social media with hashtags to enter the contest. This is another form of free advertising for the company, a great way to generate sales, a brilliant means for them to boost exposure, and yet another way for athletes to be suckered into doing free advertising. I don’t see much harm in taking part in such a contest if you truly love a product and want to proclaim it, but just remember that it works wonders as an advertising tool for the company without any benefit for you.

One thing I will never advocate is purchasing products, even at a steep discount, while also representing a brand as one of its “sponsored” athletes. If you are asked to pay for a product while also providing free advertising on social media channels, run quickly in the other direction! Basically you are dealing with a company which doesn’t value you enough as an athlete to provide compensation for your advertising efforts. This isn’t the same as purchasing a product, finding out you like it, THEN posting something on social media which lets people know how much you like it. I know of several athletes who had done this, which sparked the attention of the company which manufactured the product, eventually leading to a sponsorship deal. But do not, I repeat, DO NOT PAY for products as a way to get false sponsorship for a company.

It isn’t a bad thing to work as an unpaid salesperson in the fitness industry as long as you know your place and value. Once your following builds, the smart thing to do is to leverage your visibility into getting an athlete sponsorship. The main thing is to make sure that you don’t get taken advantage of in the process.

Hand X Band For A Stronger Grip And Great Rehab For Tennis Elbow

November 15, 2014November 2, 2014drstaceynaito 1 Comment

If you think about all the grasping and gripping you do in your daily life, such as opening doors, driving, working out with weights, etc., it’s pretty obvious that you use the muscles which flex your fingers far more often than the ones which extend (or straighten out) the fingers. Over time, this results in overdevelopment of the finger flexors relative to the extensors. A new product called the Hand X Band enables you to selectively exercise the finger extensors, establishing muscular balance and increasing strength. These clever bands are inexpensive, durable, and effective.

The Hand X Band is great for athletes who want to balance their strength and muscular development, but it is also excellent for upper extremity rehab.

You can order direct from the site: http://handxband.com

Corsets And Waist Training

November 12, 2014August 25, 2015drstaceynaito 2 Comments

https://www.yahoo.com/style/whats-the-deal-with-the-corset-training-101355906803.html

I am posting an article which I found the other day on Yahoo! Style which made me chuckle. Here is the original link as well. I will reserve comments until the end of the article.

To the ways you can attempt to whittle your waist — Slim-Fast, side planks — add one more: Corset training.

The method, which requires you to cinch yourself into a corset for four to six hours a day, is popular with celebrities and has been intriguing many other women seeking hourglass shapes.

Both Kim and Khole Kardashian have tried it. Kim posted a picture of herself yesterday in her mom’s foyer wearing a corset — hers is from a company called “What A Waist” — with the caption “I’m really obsessed with waist training!”

Jessica Alba is a fan, too. She actually wore two at the same time to help her lose weight after both of her pregnancies. “It was brutal; it’s not for everyone,” she told Net-A-Porter. “I wore a double corset day and night for three months. It was sweaty, but worth it.”

Self-described “corset fetishist” Kelly Lee Dekay, 27, has been doing corset training for seven years, and claims she has a 16-inch waist because of it. “I loved how Batman’s outfit let him channel a different side of himself,” she told the Sun. “That’s what the corset does.”

Women have worn corsets for ages. In the 1500s, they smashed down their entire torso. Later, in the late 1800s or Victorian era, they were used to help define the waist. It’s thought that the reason ladies back then were always fainting was because their corsets were squeezing their internal organs and restricting their breathing.

In these modern times, however, women now think that wearing a corset can actually help you lose weight. The Cincher by AMIA claims, “[It can] sculpt inches from your midsection and enhance your curves while increasing thermal activity in your core.”

According to TheCorsetDiet.com, you can shed up to six pounds a week by wearing one of their custom-made waist shapers. The UK-based company describes the pressure from its corsets as “gentle hugging feeling.”

But when writer Rebecca Harrington tried wearing one, albeit from a different brand, she wrote on NYMag.com, “My breathing is slightly impaired, but I can still breathe; I just have to take short, staccato breaths. I try to drink coffee, and it’s very difficult. After four hours, I whip off the corset and throw it across the room. My waist has red welts on it.”

In reality, doctors say that the corset is not — I repeat not — helping you reshape your body with simple pressure. It’s simply so tight around your stomach that you won’t — or can’t — eat too much, and doctors roundly decry any kind of corset diet or waist training as a viable long-term weight loss method.

“It’s outrageous, and it just absolutely makes no medical sense whatsoever,” Keri Peterson, M.D., a physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York told Women’s Health.

It also could be dangerous. Wearing one could actually shift or compress your internal organs and fracture your ribs, Dr. Jyotindra Shah said. “People might put it so tight that the liver, spleen and kidneys could get bruised,” she told The Huffington Post.

Even “corset fetish” Dekay knows she has to remove hers sometimes. “It can be restrictive when climbing stairs,” she told the Sun. “You can’t carry heavy things as you could hurt yourself. I don’t go to the gym in it. That would be very dangerous as I lift weights.”

Okay, here goes my commentary. I jumped on the corset bandwagon back in 2011 when I was informed that it was a very effective way to whittle the waist. During the time in which I diligently wore a corset (or two) several hours a day, every day, I noticed my waistline whittle down from 24 inches to 22-1/2 inches. So do I think it works? I KNOW it works.

I have to say I disagree with so-called doctors’comments that the corset prevents consumption of large amounts of food, thus resulting in weight loss. This just sounds like something one of my male colleagues would mutter. If caloric consumption is kept constant, women and men who engage in corset training WILL have a reduction in inches no matter what. This sounds like the typical uber conservative medical snobbery which makes other doctors the types of people I will NEVER choose to spend extensive periods of time with. I do agree that the practice of wearing a corset is outrageous, painful, and could be dangerous. But it DOES work. What price beauty?

Over the centuries, women have compressed their waistlines effectively with corsets, so it blows my mind that these narrow minded physicians have decided to toot their horns and express skepticism. As a physician who competes, I chose to give corsets a chance and had great results. I am glad that I didn’t allow the part of my brain which is trained in traditional Western medicine talk the competitor in me out of doing all that I could to make my waist smaller.

I would usually wear a neoprene wrap underneath my corset (or Squeem as it is somewhat affectionately called in the bodybuilding world due to one manufacturer brand), or one corset over a second. I would do this for at least 6 hours, sometimes as long as 14 hours. Was I uncomfortable? Yes. Did I sweat like a pig? You bet. Was it worth it? I think so.

I have dealt with the metal boning poking out as the corsets would wear out, and would glue them back into their channels, so I know all too well the sensation of metal poking into my underboob, my ribcage or my hip bone when the corsets began wearing out. I would have digestive upset, abdominal pain, and at times had difficulty breathing. During one stretch of time when I was wearing latex corsets, I developed painful lesions all over my back from the yeast overgrowth which resulted from the long hours of wear and the constant sweating. It took me over a year for my skin to heal from all those lesions, and I have a couple of permanent scars to mark my determination to sculpt a waistline that would win a Pro Card. Thankfully, I won that Pro Card in 2013 and almost immediately tossed the corsets aside.

Now I wear corsets from time to time if I feel the need to squeeze out extra water from my midsection, but I will probably never return to the days of wearing corsets for many hours, driving to work in pain because a metal boning was jabbing me in the rib, sweating profusely under nice clothing, and dealing with skin around my midsection which was constantly macerated, lighter in pigment, and showing signs of skin breakdown.

I know you ladies want to slim down the midsection, but please be careful when you wear corsets! It isn’t worth ruining your skin and compressing organs to wear these torture devices for extended periods of time. Give your skin and your torso a rest in between the sessions during which you are training your waist. I recommend wearing corsets for a 4 hour stretch.

B-Up Bars Rock

November 10, 2014November 1, 2014drstaceynaito Leave a comment

you can order at http://www.bupbar.com/shop-2

Check Out The Six Pack Fitness Bag Collection!

October 31, 2014October 14, 2014drstaceynaito Leave a comment

This collection is growing next year too, with a whole line of luggage! Please make sure to enter my discount code DRNAITO1014 If you order within the next day, and code DRNAITO1114 if ordering after that. You will receive 15% off your order.

I have used other brands of meal bags, and I honestly love Six Pack bags the best. This company has come a long way, and now they not only have Meal Management Bags, they also have Backpacks, Duffels, Briefcases, Women’s Bags and Accessories to help you keep everything in perfect order. They are top quality, fuctional and stylish. Get one!

http://www.sixpackbags.com

What a great meal bag option for the fashionable gal!

Lululemon Love

October 28, 2014October 13, 2014drstaceynaito Leave a comment

I think that if there was a sudden requirement for me to wear fitness apparel all the time that I would be the happiest woman in the world, because I automatically gravitate towards fitness apparel on a daily basis. I am not a business casual person, nor am I into wearing jeans and a t-shirt look when I need to run to the grocery store for something, I have a tendency to throw on capris or booty shorts (if I am not already wearing them) and a sporty tank. Of course I live in Los Angeles which is blessed with glorious weather the majority of the time, plus I tend to run hot.<a
Over the years I have remained loyal to certain brands which seem to fit my body well. In sports bras, I prefer Champion and Under Armour, I love the fit and wear of Nike, Under Armour, Champion and Dcore capris, my favorite booty shorts are made by New Balance, and I love Dcore tank tops. When I began working in the fitness industry back in 2009, I was surprised to hear fitness folks sing the praises of Lululemon apparel like it was the best stuff ever. After I heard how expensive their items were, I shied away from them.

I finally went to a Lululemon store last week for the very first time, and now can honestly say I understand what the hype is all about. The quality of Lululemon garments is exceptional, from the fabric to the stitching, fit, and little details which set them apart from other fitness clothing companies. I am not a fan of the sport bras and find that I am between sizes in this brand, a fact which I find quite odd. Everything else fits like a dream though! As a result of my shopping trip, I am now addicted to Lululemon and have been living in Lululemon garments for the past week.

I honestly love Lululemon!

http://shop.lululemon.com

Packing Fit Foods For Travel

October 26, 2014October 13, 2014drstaceynaito Leave a comment

It can be extremely challenging to maintain healthy eating habits while traveling abroad, especially in countries which have not embraced the concept of clean eating. An additional challenge which I encounter when I travel abroad is that it can be extremely difficult to consume the quantity of protein which I am accustomed to on a daily basis (150 to 200 grams per day). If I didn’t have access to wonderful products like P28 Bread, B-Up Bars, Quest Bars, Training Table Sports Meals and Kris Gethin’s Nutrition By Design Meal Cups to pack, I wouldn’t meet my macronutrient needs solely by eating at restaurants. I will continue to pack these convenient meal options when I go to Germany and England next year.

Both the Training Table Sports Meals and the Kris Gethin Meal Cups are whole food sources and pack a ton of protein (27 to 34 grams). The only drawback is that Training Table meals should be heated up in a microwave, and the Gethin meals require boiling hot water to rehydrate the ingredients. For this reason, I always make sure to pack P28 Bread and bars, since they don’t require any preparation. I can easily pack a box or two of bars (and yes, I ONLY eat B-Up and Quest) in my checked bag and also add a bag of P28 Flatbread. I pack the Gethin meals inside a rigid box so that the containers don’t get crushed, but everything else travels well without additional padding.

The only issue I ever run into is when I return to the States and have to go through customs. If I have any food left, the customs officials treat me like I am a drug lord or criminal! The food items which raised the most suspicious eye were the Gethin meals, which surprised me since they are dry. However, I will not allow the U.S. Customs officials to rain on my parade. I will continue to pack Gethin meals because they are so convenient and lightweight. Another great thing about Gethin meals, Training Table and B-Up Bars is that they won’t spoil during my travels.

Here are images of the products I have mentioned here. The only company I have not worked with is Kris Gethin Nutrition By Design, but my opinions of these products are completely honest and unbiased. All of these products are fantastic!