Why are we dying?

Do you want to hear something amazing?

In Canada, chronic diseases account for 89% of all death in Canada!

Doesn't that astound you? And given that doctors, scientists, politicians and pretty much EVERYONE agrees that most chronic illness is 100% preventable, what the heck are we doing? Yes, of the illnesses that are killing us, it is estimated that 80% of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes is preventable through diet, exercise and lifestyle changes, and about 40% of cancer. 

Beyond the obvious cost to us on a social level, amazingly, this also costs us financially, as a society. It is estimated that we lost 500 million dollars in 2005 alone in national income just from premature deaths.

Does this disturb anyone else?

So, here at Prana, we are starting a movement. The World Health Organization estimates that if we reduced chronic illness by just 2%, over 10 years Canada would save 1 BILLION DOLLARS!

So what if we, as Edmontonians (interestingly, Edmonton is about 2% of the national population) did our part and reduced chronic illness here by 2%?

Join Prana Holistic's 2% Initiative. Do your part to reduce the incidence of chronic illness in Canada TODAY (it is about PREVENTION, emphasis on the "pre").

Here is what you can do:

• exercise for 3.5 hours a week, which reduces your incidence of all chronic disease by about 50%!!!!
• eat more vegetables. I know some of you out there are saying "they change what's healthy every week". Let me tell you - no one has ever said broccoli isn't healthy. Eating just 2 servings more of veggies a day, especially leafy greens, will reduce your incidence of chronic illness by about 15-40%!
• STOP SMOKING!!!! The National Cancer Institute predicts that even at the age of 50, stopping smoking reduces your risk of dying prematurely by 50%.
• cut down on sugar. New research shows what natural health practitioners always suspected: high intake of sugar raises your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and liver disease (not to mention diabetes, which we already knew). Those are major factors in your risk for developing a chronic illness.
• keep your BMI below 30. Research shows this has the greatest influence on your risk for developing a chronic illness. To calculate your BMI, take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 703 and divide that number by your height, in inches, squared.

So Edmonton, let's embrace good health and turn our noses up at chronic diseases. The changes I suggested are simple, and really - What do we have to lose?

Kristi Shmyr

Prana Holistic

Becoming A Ninja At Life

I had the complete pleasure of being a participant in Kristi's fall Goal Ninjas program here at Prana, and I say with complete confidence and excitement that it changed my life! Let me tell you how.

First of all, I discovered that I'm not exactly in line with my true passion. In fact, I had even convinced myself that I "don't really identify with the word passion" - what a bunch of bollocks! I certainly DO identify with the word passion, I just hadn't aligned myself with something that makes me feel more passionate than anything else! By Kristi's skilled facilitation and questioning, as well as the processes that are presented through the Goal Ninjas program, I was able to discover where my true passion lies. Now, knowing what really entices passion within me, I can actively pursue that.


Secondly, I've been pursuing ongoing activities to change mental programs that I have that are no longer conducive to my personal success and advancement. These activities are designed to establish new mental programs that are positive and that contribute to my creating the life that I really desire instead of that which I formerly believed I deserved - far less than the best! One of these activities is called evidence journaling and here's how it works: every day for 90-days (new habits, including habitual thinking, should be established by practice over a 90-day period), I am recording evidence to prove the following new beliefs: 1) I am abundant, 2) I am attractive, 3) I am valuable, 4) I am worthwhile, and 5) I am complete (whole, perfect and complete just the way that I am). Amazing things are happening. I am pulling away from undermining thoughts and behaviors and finding all the more evidence to illustrate that leading an enriched and fulfilling life is my divine birth right! Moreover, I am actually beginning to embody the fact that I deserve the absolute best that IS available to me in this universe.

As far as I'm concerned, these are amazing and incredibly impactful paradigm shifts that may not have happened (or at least not as soon) had I not participated in the Goal Ninjas program. I believe that everyone deserves to know that they are worthy of the very best the world has to offer. I also strongly believe that each and every person who thinks otherwise of themselves or who isn't seeming to achieve what they really want or who's just plain unhappy can't afford NOT to pursue the Goal Ninjas program. And...I really don't care if I come across as being biased since Kristi is my friend and colleague - that's how fired up I am about what Goal Ninjas has to offer!

If you want to read more about the concepts of Goal Ninjas, check out my recent column in SEE Magazine: Un-Google Your Mind, or, if you want to know more about the program, check out goalninjas.com. If you'd like to sign up for the program, which I, obviously, highly encourage you to do, please contact Kristi at: kristi@pranaholistic.ca, or give us a call on 780.454.5299.

Happy 2011 everyone! Here's to your becoming a ninja at life!

Roberta Shepherd for Prana Holistic