Sept 16 Intention: Give More - Live Longer (read the quotes, then see notes and personal story below)
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Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen

The Lesson
In giving peace, love, joy, pardon, faith, hope, light, console, understanding, and pardon we receive wealth beyond measure. Giving or service is known as karma yoga.  Are you strengthening your hatha yoga practice with karma yoga?

Action Item
What have you been wanting more of in your life? To feel loved? pretty? successful? good at your job? understood? Think of just one thing for the moment. The thing that you want most. How could others help you reach this goal?

Now set an intention that for the coming week you will give to others that which you want for yourself. For example, if you want to feel good at your job, this week show appreciation and encouragement to others. Let them know that you appreciate their good work. Encourage them in professional growth.

Or, perhaps you want to feel loved. This week show love and kindess to others. Go out of our way to tell people how important they are to you. 

'You reap what you sew' is an ancient truth. When you shift your energy to giving that which you seek, you will find yourself blessed many times over.

Helpers High – Give More, Live Longer
Dr. Stephanie Brown and her colleagues at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan conducted a study on the health effects of giving. Dr. Brown tracked 423 older couples over five years. The couples who reported giving no support to others were more than twice as likely to die during the five years of the study as those who helped others. The simple act of giving to neighbors, a spouse, relative or friends gave people a 50% better chance of living longer. 

Michigan researchers who studied 2,700 people for almost ten years found that men who regularly did volunteer work had death rates two-and-one half times lower than men who didn’t. In a separate study, volunteers who worked directly with those who benefited from their services had a greater immune system boost than those whose volunteer work was restricted to pushing papers.

Harvard researchers also conducted a study that showed how giving is such a powerful immune booster that it can be experienced just by watching someone else in the act of giving! In this well-known experiment, students looking at a film of Mother Teresa as she tended the sick in Calcutta—even those who purported to dislike Mother Teresa—got an increase in immune function.

Psychologist Robert Ornstein and physician David Sobel are well known for their examinations of the health effects of altruism. In their book Healthy Pleasures, they describe what they call the “helper’s high,” a kind of euphoria volunteers get when helping others—a warm glow in the chest and a sense of vitality that comes from being simultaneously energized and calm. They compare it to a runner’s high and claim it is caused by the body’s release of endorphins. Because of all these health benefits, as Stella Reznick says in The Pleasure Zone, “the one who ends up getting the most from a good deed may, ultimately, be the good Samaritan.”

Giving is good for your health! 
(some of the information in this document is excerpted from grandtimes.com) 

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Monique Danielle wants you to live a long and prosperous life. You have great gifts to share with the world. She can help you uncover these gifts through simple, natural concepts based upon yoga, meditaiton and holistic health.  You may Download this intention and print or save to your computer, then pass it on to a friend. 

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For Print, Radio and TV
Monique Danielle wants you to live a long and happy life. You have great gifts to share with the world. She can help you uncover these gifts through simple, natural concepts.  To learn more about how you can benefit from yoga, meditation and holistic concepts, visit easyflowmeditaiton.com and moniquedanielle.com.