Walk to Leave Your Stress Behind

Here’s one walk that can help you unwind and unload some of the stress that may be weighing you -- and your looks -- down:

1. Step outside and leave your stresses -- and your iPod -- behind. 

 2. Take in the details of your surroundings -- the buzz of traffic, the chirp of a bird, the curvature of plants and trees, the precise color of the sky, the shape of moving clouds. 

 3. You will find yourself becoming hyperaware and in the moment. At this point, think about what you are thankful for in your life. It can be general or specific: your health, your family, your experiences at work, your life partner, your children, your last birthday party, and so on. 

 4. Let your mind and memory run free. 

Becoming very present like this gets you thinking in a whole new light and connecting in ways you never imagined. You also get inspired by thinking more broadly rather than focusing on your own inner world and trivial frustrations. It's a great way to beat down stress while at the same time appreciating where you are right now. Also, one of Dr. Amy Wechsler's seven habits for healthy skin (number four, to be exact) entails focusing on the good things. When you're done with your walk, take 5 minutes to write down some of your revelations in a journal.

3 Keys to a Beautiful Nap

Grabbing a short snooze can give you the lift you need to tackle the rest of your day -- physically and mentally -- but the perks don't stop there. Research suggests that napping benefits almost every aspect of human wellness, from lowering your risk for heart disease and repairing cells to lifting your mood and stamina to knocking down stress and making you more productive. All this can translate to living longer, staying more active, and looking younger. 

What are the keys to being a power napper? Follow these three simple rules: 

Set aside 30 minutes total -- 10 minutes to fall asleep and 20 minutes for the actual nap. Use an alarm.

Take off your shoes and get comfortable; try to nap in a reclined position on a couch or in your car (but be safe); avoid direct sunlight.

Avoid napping past 3 p.m. If you nap too late in the day, you can disrupt your nighttime sleep.

Smoothie for Your Skin

For a sweet treat that’ll help your skin from the inside out, try Dr. Amy Wechsler’s berry smoothie.

Wechsler, RealAge’s own skin expert and author of The Mind-Beauty Connection, has a recipe that really packs in the face-friendly nutrients, thanks to a dose of makes-your-skin-glow omega-3 fats from flaxseeds.

Dr. Wechsler’s Skin-Fresh Smoothie :

1 cup water (plain), or soymilk, or low-fat or skim milk
1 cup fresh or frozen berries of your choice (try a medley of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries)
2 tablespoons flaxseed meal or flax oil
Ice and agave nectar to taste
Optional: 1 scoop vanilla or chocolate whey protein powder

Combine water or milk, berries, and flax in a blender. Cover, and blend until smooth. Taste. If you want it thicker, add ice. If you want it sweeter, add a tablespoon of agave nectar. If you want extra nutritional punch, add the protein powder. (Natural-food stores carry a wide variety of these; just make sure not to buy meal-replacement powder.) If you want more good-for-your-skin nutrients, blend in some vegetables like cucumber or broccoli, too. With the sweetness of the berries, Dr. Wechsler notes, you won’t even taste the veggies.

Soap operas

Watching TV is a very popular pastime in the UK. But what kind of programmes do British people like to watch? Well, the most-watched TV programmes every week are very popular dramas that are usually on at least four times every week. They are dramas based in one neighbourhood that try to depict ordinary life in the UK - we call these dramas ‘soap operas’ or ‘soaps’.

In the early days of TV, there were often dramas on during the day. Back in those days, it was traditional for the husband to go out to work and for the wife to stay at home and look after the house and the children. Most of these daytime dramas were aimed at entertaining the housewives who would traditionally be at home, probably doing the washing. Companies selling washing powder would advertise their products at times when these dramas were on, and sometimes those companies would even sponsor the drama. Hence the word ‘soap’.

So what about the word opera? Well, that’s because these dramas are often an exaggeration of real life. They are supposed to represent ordinary lives but, to make them entertaining, lots of dramatic events, like murders, divorces, affairs etc., all happen probably much more regularly than they would in a normal neighbourhood.

Most soap operas these days are shown in the evening. Each show will have several different storylines happening at once that continue over several shows. The same cast members will appear in every show, too.

There are lots of different soaps on in the UK on different channels but there are three main popular ones. ‘Coronation Street’ has been on since 1960. It is set in a suburb of Manchester and it’s supposed to represent working class life in the north of England. Then there’s ‘Eastenders’ which started in 1985, set in the East End of London, and ‘Emmerdale’, which is set on a farm in Yorkshire, in the north of England.

The BBC even has a soap opera to help you learn English - so if you want to experience one of these dramas in English, ‘The Flatmates’ would be a good place to start - go to www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/flatmates.

Vocabulary

pastime
what you do outside work for enjoyment, e.g. a hobby

neighbourhood
an area where people live rather than work or do shopping

to depict
to describe, to show, to represent

housewives
women who work at home, doing the cleaning, cooking, etc., and who usually have no other job

washing powder
laundry detergent; a cleaning substance in powder form used for washing clothes

advertise
show short television commercials to promote

sponsor
here, pay for filming

hence the word 'soap'
this is how the word 'soap' became part of the expression

an exaggeration
showing or representing something in a more dramatic, serious or shocking way than it really is

affairs
here, intimate relations outside marriage

at once
here, simultaneously, at the same time

cast members
actors in a particular film or TV series

it is set in a suburb of Manchester
the action takes place in an area near Manchester (people from suburbs usually work in the city which they are close to, however there are usually very few or no businesses within a suburb itself)

it’s supposed to represent
the intention is to show; it's meant to show

3 Veggies That Make Your Brain Younger

Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. Consider them a facelift for your brain.
That's because munching on veggies like these -- which belong to the cruciferous family of veggies -- could shave 1 to 2 years off your mind's age. Here's how they help

The Big Memory Reveal Women who filled out a food-intake questionnaire demonstrated some pretty significant memory muscle on tests when their questionnaires revealed a true love for all things cruciferous (as well as leafy and green, like spinach). In fact, the veggie-lovers? test scores were more in line with those of women a couple of years younger. That means your brain could be 48 when the calendar says it?s 50. Not bad.

Mighty NutrientsThink cruciferous for cancer protection, too. Here?s why.Researchers speculate that nutrients like lutein and folate, found in abundance in foods like spinach, may be part of the reason for the brain benefits that cruciferous and leafy green veggies confer.

Toyota triples year loss forecast

06 February, 2009 - Published 14:10 GMT

Toyota is now the world's largest car maker, but only because sales at its great rival General Motors have plunged even more quickly.

The Japanese company is now forecasting an operating loss of 4.9 billion dollars by the end of the financial year.

The announcement came as Toyota posted quarterly results showing it made an operating loss of four billion dollars in October to December alone. It's the first time in its seventy year history it's gone into the red and comes after years of record profits.

Japan's exporters are being hit hard by the global economic downturn, and in recent days a string of big name companies have made grim results announcements. Demand is falling around the world for their electronics, machinery and cars. Japanese companies are being hurt further by the strength of the yen, which makes them less competitive and erodes the value of their earnings abroad.

Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo

rival
a person or company competing in the same area or industry

plunged
fallen suddenly

forecasting
'to forecast' means to say what you expect to happen in the future

posted quarterly results
made their financial profits or losses (over a period of three months) available to the public

made an operating loss
failed to make a profit despite still trading

gone into the red
fallen into debt

record profits
making more money than ever before

grim
without hope

Demand is falling
the need or desire for something is becoming less

erodes
decreases gradually

West Indies to get its first white cricketer

04 February, 2009 - Published 16:59 GMT

West Indies to get its first white cricketer
 
 



Brendan Nash is expected to become the first white cricketer to represent the West Indies in a home test in more than 30 years. The Australian-born player is in the squad to face England in Jamaica, his parents' birthplace. Our Sports News reporter Alex Capstick reports: 

Listen to the story
It's a most unlikely homecoming. Brendan Nash was born in Perth, Western Australia. His family had moved from Jamaica. He was a good cricketer but ultimately failed to make his mark in Australia. 

It was during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean that he decided to move to the land of his parents. Within a year of playing cricket for Jamaica he was included in the squad to tour New Zealand where he made his test debut. 

His inclusion had divided opinion. For racial reasons some people objected to Brendan Nash's selection. No white man had played for the West Indies since Geoff Greenidge represented the region in 1973. Others were sceptical of a player who in effect was an Australian reject. 

But his performances in New Zealand suggested he could add some much needed resilience to the West Indies batting line-up. And it's hoped his professional attitude, honed in the tough Australian system, will rub off on his new colleagues. 

It's been a long time since the West Indies had a team to be proud of. They haven't won a test series against England in fifteen years. If Brendan Nash can help stop the rot, the cricket loving public in the Caribbean probably won't mind what colour he is. 

Alex Capstick, BBC

to make his mark
here, to succeed 

made his test debut
played in a five-day international cricket game for the first time 

had divided opinion
made some people agree with the decision and others, disagree 

objected to
were against 

were sceptical of
doubted, questioned, were doubtful of 

resilience
being able to recover quickly from a setback/problem 

line-up
team/members of the team 

honed
practised for such a long period of time that it has become excellent 

rub off on
influence, have a positive effect on 

help stop the rot
contribute to the improvement