Discover the best ebooks on self development, womens fitness, womans health, womens lifestyle and wealth. At Womens Lifestyle Publications we bring you a downloadable ebook for every healthy lifestyle.

Dear Friend,

Let’s start with the bottom line. Global warming is the most important environmental issue facing mankind. Those words came from a U.S. Department of Energy Report and the same sentiments have been echoed by every serious scientist in the world. There is no doubt that we’re witnessing tremendous climate change. The evidence is indisputable.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where the immediate economic and personal interests of many powerful people are threatened by the prospect of taking action to avoid global warming. The current turmoil in financial markets has temporarily taken the focus away from the real problems.  As history tends to repeat itself in the money domain and the markets go through its cycles, Environmental issues are not being concerned as The critical priority.  Even though the Environment will not come down crashing overnight, doesn't mean we have time to put it on the back burner and think it's something we'll sort out at another time. 

  So, we’re saddled with ineffective politicians who refuse to acknowledge the problem and who would probably be incapable of devising a solution anyway. That leaves it to us. To you and me. What was once a “far out” theory has become the source of daily headlines.

Global warming is a huge risk. We’re not just talking about retiring our winter coats in favor of lighter jackets. World agricultural production is at stake. We’re staring down the barrel of a string of famines, floods and other weather disasters, political instability and violence, additional environmental degradation and an all-out unraveling of society as we know it.

Here are a few ABSOLUTE TRUTHS about global warming.

•     The climate is changing.

•     Things are getting warmer.

•     Human activity contributes to global warming.

•     Changes in human activity can fight global warming.

•     If we don’t change things, we’re going to be facing disaster.

Over the last year or so, many people have begun to focus their attention on the very real problem of Global Warming. While environmentalists and others have known about global warming for quite some time, it has taken the issue a while to capture the publics attention. For many years, there were doubts that the problem even existed. But recently, all but a few scientists agree that the problem is very real and that the earth faces severe problems if we don’t act immediately to begin to reverse the damage of global warming.

One of the things that have raised public awareness of this issue is the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, produced and presented by former vice-president Al Gore. The former senator from Tennessee got interested in the problem when he was in college, over forty years ago, and he has maintained his interest in the face of many nay-sayers and critiques throughout the years. But with the release of An Inconvenient Truth, he is getting global warming the attention it deserves. Other events have also served to raise the publics awareness that global warming might be a problem—the terrible hurricanes that have battered the Gulf Coast of the United States and other international locations, as well as other unusual weather.

Many regions have experienced extreme heat or cold or strong storms. Hearing about natural disasters brings home immediately the idea that perhaps something is amiss on our beautiful green and blue planet. Global warming is a big problem. Many people feel that there is no more important issue to work on— after all, if our planet is our only home. Without a clean, healthy earth on which to live, we have nothing. Yet to the average citizen, it may seem like such an overwhelming issue that there’s really nothing anyone can do. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The good news is that there is plenty all of us can do. The even better news is that there are many effective activities that aren’t particularly difficult to accomplish. Best of all, many of these activities which positively impact global warming will improve your quality of life.

This report will give you many, many ideas about simple steps you can take to help the problem of global warming. We’ll talk about energy conservation (it’s not nearly as daunting as it seems), being a green commuter, recycling (many communities are making this a breeze for consumers), water conservation, shopping green, and even simple things like the benefits of planting a garden. You will find activities that you can involve the entire family in, things to do that you’ll enjoy. You’ll feel better about the lifestyle choices you are making because you will be certain that you are leaving a lighter footprint on this earth. And that is what it is all about. Before we get into the information about the activities and ideas for fighting global warming, first we are going to explain it (don’t worry, its all in layman’s terms). We will discuss what global warming actually is, how it affects you and your family, and what is being done before we get into the lengthy section on what you can do.

Also, at the end of this special report you will find a page of resources, including websites and organizations where you can go to find out more information.

More information at:

www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/live-green/globalwarming

What Is Global Warming?

The simplest definition of global warming is that it is an increase in the surface temperature of the earth. The term that we are all getting used to hearing now most often means artificial warming of the earth that is due to greenhouse gases.

What are greenhouse gases?

These are emissions from human activities such as driving cars and using electrical appliances. The biggest culprit is carbon dioxide, which gets trapped in the atmosphere and makes everything warmer, like a heavy blanket. You may have heard this called the greenhouse effect. There is more carbon dioxide currently trapped in the atmosphere than there has been in the last 650,000 years. You read that right—650,000 years. Consider that most of that carbon dioxide is there because of our human activities and you start to get the picture.

A little bit of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is not all bad. After all, we do need some warmth! The natural ecosystem which traps the correct amount of warmth in the atmosphere is what gives us fresh air, clean water, and the natural weather systems. However, we’ve overloaded it so much with the emissions from our cars, and power plants, and over-consumptive lifestyles that it is endangering our planet. The earth’s surface temperature has risen by about one degree Fahrenheit over the last century, and that is expected to accelerate. In general, the earth’s ecosystem is changing, thanks largely to the humans who inhabit it.

Another phrase you’ll hear a lot is climate change. It’s important to bear in mind that climate changes occur naturally over the centuries and millennia, however, the current warming that we are experiencing is way more extreme than could be accounted for in normal fluctuation. Changes that scientists had forecast to occur as the result of global warming have already begun. And many scientists believe that severe climate changes and some of the catastrophic weather that often accompanies it are the result of our increased global warming. There has been a marked increase in the number of category four and five hurricanes over the last few years. That’s because hurricanes are formed over warm sea water, and as the water temperatures of the oceans rise, more killer storms are created. Many other changes occur from warmer sea temperatures, such as the melting of the polar icecaps.

One of the results of the melting polar ice caps is that the oceans are beginning to rise. When you consider that most of the world’s population lives on or near coasts, you can start to see the problem. If we continue at our current rate of spewing greenhouse gases into the air, the oceans are expected to rise six feet in 100 years—or less. Rising sea levels threaten massive physical devastation and damage to economies worldwide. And consider this—while the United States has only four percent of the world’s population, it is responsible for 22% of the greenhouse gas emissions. One of the first things that occur as temperatures rise is that more disease-carrying insects and rodents thrive. While we normally associate diseases such as malaria and encephalitis with other continents, we’ll be seeing a lot more of them in the future, right here in the United States, if global warming continues at its current rate. This has already started to happen, and doctors at the Harvard Medical Center have linked outbreaks of various diseases such as the Hanta-virus directly to climate change.

How Does Global Warming Affect Me?

Perhaps you are reading all this and wondering what the big deal is. After all, these are big concepts. If you don’t live in a part of the world impacted by hurricanes, maybe you feel you don’t have much to worry about. Or perhaps you live in a very cold part of the world and you would welcome global warming. But nothing could be further than the truth—global warming affects us all. We only have one planet and one place for us all to live. So far, scientists have not found any other planets that are habitable without massive intervention that is beyond our economic means. So, we are stuck here on earth and we need to make sure that we are actively preserving this beautiful planet.

Climate change means more than warmer winters. (And, for the record, many of those bitterly cold winters and huge storms parts of the country have been getting are the direct result of global warming.) Climate change means that certain regions will no longer be able to sustain farmlands or grow the same crops. It means changing precipitation and regional climates that can affect human and animal health and welfare. Some changes that might happen would include expanding desserts, drier soils, more intense rainstorms and faster evaporation of the water from them. None of these results are good for the health for the planet or its inhabitants. The above mentioned diseases will be harder and harder to contain and control, and some of them can be very deadly.

In the United States, they don’t have to worry too much about insect-born diseases. They are used to the luxury of spending time outdoors without fretting. But that may soon change as more and more of the populace becomes prone to unusual illnesses. Here’s another startling statistic: 800,000 people a year die from sicknesses caused by air pollution, half of those in China, which is second after the United States in carbon dioxide emissions, according to the World Health Organization. Other changes from global warming that will have an extreme adverse impact on us include more frequent and intense heat waves and prolonged drought, and more wildfires. Some predict that the Arctic Ocean will be ice free by 2050, and more than a million species worldwide will be driven to extinction by that same year. Already many animals have begun changing their habits and habitats, moving closer to the poles. While we are already seeing the results of climate change and global warming in our own lives, it is our children and grand children who will be living in a vastly altered landscape.

Do we want to be known as the people who stood idly by and did nothing to improve the lives of future generations? The Native Americans have long had a philosophy that everything they do should be considered in light of the impact it will have on all the generations to come. Tread lightly on the planet is a philosophy that we can all follow.

Read More at:

www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/live-green/globalwarming

What is being done?

In the US, programs to stem the tide of global warming are being implemented on the federal, state and local levels. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the lead federal agency involved in this program and it is partnering with state, local and private agencies to address the challenges of global warming while strengthening the economy. Also at the federal level, the U.S. Global Change Research Program is researching global warming, its effects and what we can do to stop it. Many state agencies are creating programs to reduce greenhouse emissions, and local governments are creating curbside recycling programs and encouraging businesses to go green with a variety of incentives. How about on the global level?

While the U.S. is responsible for a huge preponderance of the greenhouse emissions, it’s certainly not the US 's problem alone. The U.S. government is working with other countries through the United Nations. The program is called the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Kyoto Protocol is an international and binding agreement that many are entering into as a way to reduce greenhouse gases worldwide. While the U.S. under the current administration has refused to sign this legally binding agreement, many local cities have done so and you can contact the mayor of your city to find out what’s been done where you live.

One of the activities of the Kyoto Protocol program is to support countries and regions in coping with the current effects of the crisis. While there is much we can do to prevent future effects of global warming, we must also be aware that damage has already been done. Because of this, we must minimize the current impacts. Some of the ways this is being done is through prevention. For instance, building flood walls and moving populations out of low-lying floodplains is one recommendation. They also recommend “focusing on vulnerability,” that is, identifying populations and areas that will be most at risk from climate change and global warming. Of course, more research is an ongoing necessity, as is flexibility and funding for this research. The forecasts of what will be needed on the broadest levels are fascinating—it’s essential that we start actually thinking differently to solve this problem. It is true that some governmental bodies and agencies, as well as private concerns, have been slow to realize that there is a problem and even slower to act upon it.

One of the key concerns is financial. Going green on every level does cost more upfront. However, study after study has shown that these higher upfront costs actually result in huge savings down the road, because green policies have such a positive impact on health and lifestyle. For instance, a recent climate change conference held in Bangkok affirmed that burning cleaner fuels resulted in health benefits that saved money. The World Health Organization recommends that governments should consider the increased savings in health costs if they aren’t dealing with the direct results of global warming—heat waves, disease, and water scarcity.

More and more, governments around the world are recognizing that going green will result in long-term savings. Finally, many organizations are working hard to reduce the impact of this problem. One of the most prominent is called Global Green, which is the U.S. arm of Green Cross International, a group started by former Russian president Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. He was inspired to act by the 1992 Green Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The group’s mission “is to create a sustainable future by cultivating harmonious relationships between humans and the environment.” It focuses on stemming global climate change by encouraging green building, eliminating weapons of mass destruction, and providing clean drinking water for the 2.4 billion people who lack it. President Gorbachov’s vision is to create a new approach to the environmental crisis by connecting humans back to their environment. There are many other organizations, both public and private, who are working very hard on this problem. They include the Environmental Defense, Stop Global Warming Now, and others. Please note that we have compiled an extensive list of organizations and resources on global warming at the end of this report. You’ll find links to websites of all these groups and many other agencies there.

What Can I Do To Help Stop Global Warming?

Are you ready for some startling statistics? In the United States, 6.6 tons of greenhouse gases are emitted per person every year. We’re not getting any better at this, as this figure rose 3.4% from 1990 to 1997. Most of these emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels to power our cars and light our homes and buildings. According to the EPA, this accounts for 82% of the emissions, a hefty chunk. The rest comes from raising livestock, natural gas pipelines, coal, industrial chemicals, and methane from waste in landfills. With figures like these, it’s probably not much of a surprise that currently the U.S. emits more greenhouse gases per person than any other country on earth—though the rates do vary widely by state and region.

From these statistics you can easily see that there are three main areas where you can make a huge impact on global warming. These three areas are how much electricity we use, the waste we process, and the transportation choices we make. As consumers, we can cut down up to 32% of the emissions we spew into the air, just by making smart choices. The rest comes from industry and other sources, and we can have an impact on that by lobbying governments to come up with stricter standards.

One of the words you’ll hear a lot when looking into global warming is sustainability. Its one of the new buzz words and it’s a good one. Wikipedia defines the word as “an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the future.” The EPA defines it as “the ability to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for its people.” These definitions both embrace taking stewardship of the planet, its people, and the best quality of life for all – which is what taking action to ease global warming is all about.

The experts agree: the overall recommendation is for rapid transition to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. But what does this mean? And how can the average consumer add such practices to their everyday life? That’s where this report comes in. We have compiled a list of actions, both large and small that you can take to help prevent global warming. If you are feeling overwhelmed, don’t be. You can start small, taking one little step, and then expand your awareness and commitment to the cause. Bit by bit you’ll be replacing old habits and before you know you’ll be proud to call yourself a green citizen. You may even feel compelled to become an activist on the part of the planet. Our list of resources can help you with that, too.

Read More at:

www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/live-green/globalwarming

What Will You Choose To Do?

Once you become interested in global warming and start to read and understand the extent of the problem, it is impossible to sit idly by any longer. It’s unlikely that you will be able to return to some of your own previous habits. Simply reading a few pages of this report will likely have you turning off appliances and switching out light bulbs. You might even be inspired to buy a hybrid car or bike to work. Perhaps you will start an organic garden in your backyard or learn about permaculture. For sure you’ll be more careful about what you allow to wash down storm drains, and you’ll probably begin a more extensive recycling program in your home. Any and all of those activities and others listed in this report will help.

The only thing that won’t help is if you sit back again and do nothing. There are way too many people in this country and others who don’t know understand the parameters of the problem. Now that you do, it’s up to you to take action. Whether you are 20 or 80 our future and the future of our children and grandchildren depend on it.

We’re looking at a very real problem and it’s up to us to solve it.

Continue at www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/live-green/globalwarming

   There are stories on the news every day of assaults on women. Sometimes the women manage to fight back and get away, and sometimes they don’t. Women can be assaulted in parking lots, in stores, in offices, or in other public places that might seem safe. Even though attacks against women seem random usually they aren’t. Low estimates by the National Organization of Women say that 1,400 women per year are killed by their spouses and there are more than 572,000 reported incidents of women being battered by a spouse. These numbers increase during social, political or cultural pressure rises.

   More than 100,000 of those reported assaults were so serious that the women ended up in the hospital.

   According to women’s groups and the police more than 130,000 rapes are reported each year. Police estimate that the actual number of rapes is six times that figure but most rapes are never reported. More than half of the women raped every year know their attackers. Stranger rape and assault is far less common than a woman being attacked by someone she knows. It’s important that you know you know to defend yourself against an attack from a stranger, but it is also important to know how to stop an attack by someone you love.

   Most women think that they never will be assaulted but thousands of women are attacked everyday. Knowing how to stop an attack or how to survive an attack could save your life. It’s also important that you talk to your children, especially your daughters, about self defense.

   Kids are especially vulnerable because they are usually taught by their parents to respect adults and to do what adults tell them to do. It’s hard for parents to instill a sense of respect for authority in their kids while at the same teaching them that it’s okay to scream or yell or make a scene in certain situations. Making sure that your kids understand the difference can mean keeping them safe so it’s important that you learn how to talk to your kids about their own safety.

Ten Reasons You Need to Learn Self Defense:

   There are a lot of great reasons that you should learn self defense. These facts should convince you to take the plunge and commit to some practical selfdefense training.

1. Violence is real – It’s easy to dismiss the stories of attacks against women and say that it would never happen to you but it can happen to you. Every day women get attacked who used to say it would never happen to them. All women are vulnerable and all women are at risk. Ignoring the possibility that you could be assaulted won’t change the fact that you could be.

2. If you don’t know how to defend yourself you have no options in an attack – If you are attacked knowing how to fight back or having a self defense weapon could save your life, but if you don’t know how to get away or you don’t have a weapon you could be badly hurt or killed. Do you really want to take that risk?

3. Anyone can be attacked – You might think that because you live in a certain neighborhood, dress a certain way, make a certain amount of money, or have a certain kind of job that you’re not at risk of being attacked. But your lifestyle, income, and social status won’t protect you. Any woman could be attacked.

4. Self defense can save your life – Even knowing just a few basic self defense moves can be enough to scare off an attacker or get away from an attacker in time to save your life. You have the power to protect your own life during an attack if you have the knowledge and confidence to fight back.

5. Women are raised to be passive – One of the biggest factors that make women targets for assaults is that women are raised to be docile and passive. Women are taught to not speak up, to not assert themselves. How many times have you known a woman who was having trouble with something but couldn’t speak up about it? How many times have you done that? Women are taught to be quiet and subservient and to not complain. Predators take advantage of that. When women are attacked by people they already know it is often because the men who attack them know that women are not going to make a fuss and not going to make a scene. Most rapes go unreported because women can’t bear to tell their stories. Most domestic assaults go uncharged because women are raised to think they should put up with spouses that hit them. Women need to learn to break through that passivity and make a scene when necessary. Could you yell and scream and try to get someone’s attention if you were being attacked? You need to be able to do that and learning self-defense can help women learn to be more confident and less passive.

6. Your children learn from you – If you want your children to grow up feeling confident and knowing how to defend themselves you need to know how to defend yourself. Teaching your kids to be aware of their surroundings and drilling them in self defense techniques will make sure that they won’t panic in a crisis situation and forget everything they know about self defense. You can’t teach them self defense if you don’t know it.

7. Predators are prepared and you need to be too - If you are assaulted chances are good that the person attacking you has previously attacked others. Predators usually have a plan, and they don’t count on you fighting back. They count on the element of surprise to make the attack successful. Take away that element of surprise by being prepared and you can sometimes prevent the attack.

8. You can’t count on divine intervention – You have to help yourself. Have you ever heard the expression, “Pray to catch the bus, and then run as fast as you can”? Well that applies to being assaulted too. Pray that you make it out alive, and then fight as hard as you can and you might make it out alive.

9. You can’t rely on anyone else to save you – If you are attacked hopefully you can get someone else’s attention and hopefully some one else will step in and help you or call police to help you. But you can’t count on anyone else coming to your rescue. If you are assaulted you are all that you have, so you need to know how to save yourself.

10. You could die - Just think about that for a moment. You could die. Your life could end as a result of an attack. Isn’t that reason enough to learn how to protect yourself? If you are attacked and you don’t know any techniques to defend yourself statistically your chances of survival aren’t great. Knowing how to defend yourself and knowing how to survive an attack can be the only things that keep you alive through a serious attack.

   Learning self-defense is more than just taking a class or reading a book. You need to know how to not panic during an attack and how to read a situation and an attacker instantly. You need to be able to know how to disarm an attacker and how to use a weapon yourself. If your attacker has a gun and you manage to get it away from him but you don’t know how to fire a gun having that gun isn’t going to do you much good. Only continued self-defense training can give you the ability to respond with a clear head in an attack situation. You can never know if you will be targeted by a criminal at some point. All you can do is know how to defend yourself if you are. And if you know how to defend yourself then you have a much greater chance of fighting off that attack or surviving that attack. When you’re assaulted even if you are injured if you survive that attack then you win and the attacker loses.

The Four Main Strategies of Staying Safe for Women

   Learning how to protect yourself from an assault involves more than just learning a few techniques to get away from an attacker. There are four main areas that you need to work on if you’re going to be truly able to defend yourself in any situation. Using these strategies to learn how to protect yourself could mean the difference between surviving an attack and not surviving an attack.

1. Know how predators lure you in …………………….

2. Learn to Diffuse a Confrontation …………………….

3. Know when it’s time to get physical and how to get physical ……………………

4. Switching to Survival Mode ……………………..

Full details available here:

www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/health-wellbeing/womens-self-defense/

Self Defense Classes

   There are different types of self defense classes that you can take to learn techniques that might save your life in an attack situation. Some self defense classes are based in martial arts traditions and teach a lot of martial arts moves while some classes are pure self defense and combine the grabs, punches and other moves from a wide variety of martial arts and fighting disciplines so that students learn the best moves that could keep them alive. Self defense classes teach more than just moves you can use to escape an attacker. Self defense classes also teach you how to hone your senses so that you are more aware of your surroundings. Most importantly, self defense classes can teach you how to react to an attack without panicking and without freezing. When you are in an attack situation it’s very important that you are able to react without freezing up or panicking and the only way to really train yourself to not freeze up is practice. Self defense classes are a safe place for you to practice how you should act if you are ever attacked. Another benefit of self defense classes is that you can learn how to get hurt and keep going. For most women the shock of being grabbed or being hit during an attack is enough to knock them off balance and make them stop fighting. In self defense classes you can learn how to take a hit and not get thrown off by it. No one wants to be in a situation where they are going to get hurt but if you are being attacked being able to get hit or injured and keep fighting just might keep you alive.

Self Defense Classes for Kids

   If you’re a parent you already know that the world can be a dangerous place for children. Like most parents you probably breathe a sigh of relief every single time they come back through the door and are home safe. But when it comes to self defense for kids it’s important that you teach kids how to deal with realistic situations without making them scared or afraid of everyone. Preparation and preparedness are the keys to teaching kids self defense. Don’t pretend that your kids could never be assaulted or kidnapped because realistically they could. But if your kids know how to defend themselves and know how to keep their presence of mind they could successful get away from an attacker. Some schools teach self defense to kids as a regular part of the curriculum. Does the school you send your kids to offer self defense? You should find out.

Find out more about Self Defense Classe here:

www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/health-wellbeing/womens-self-defense/

Self Defense Products

   Sometimes a working knowledge of how to avoid dangerous situations and how to use martial arts and self defense techniques might not be enough to protect you from an attacker. That’s where self defense products come in, as a second line of defense against being attacked. There are a huge range of self defense products on the market today. Some work, some don’t work, and some aren’t legal in every state. One thing that you need to remember before you rush out and buy an arsenal of self defense products to keep your purse is that if you’re going to carry a self defense product you need to be sure that you know how to use it. A self defense product doesn’t have to be a weapon in order to be effective.

   Remember that one of the most important aspects of staying safe is remembering that violence happens. Everyday, someone who thought that they would never be attacked or never thought their home would be broken into was the victim of a violent crime. Using self defense products will give you the peace of mind that comes from knowing if you are attacked you have the skills and the products to help you fight back.

Self Defense Products for Kids

   Personal alarms are also great self defense products for kids. They are really ideal for kid safety because the alarm is sure to draw the attention of adults nearby and the big buttons are easy for kids to push. A frightened child being abducted might panic and not be able to fight back but might be able to hit the personal alarm button which could scare off the attacker. Since personal alarms are small they are a good size for children’s small hands. Personal alarms can also be clipped onto backpacks or snapped onto cell phone holders.

You should also have your child fingerprinted if you have not already had that one.

More about Self Defense Products available here:

www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/health-wellbeing/womens-self-defense/

Parking lot Safety

   Parking lots are one of the places where women are most vulnerable. Abductions from parking lots are happening more and more, several high profile abductions make national news every year but there are hundreds more that occur. Any woman can be abducted from a parking lot at any time.

Staying safe when you're out running, walking or exercising

   A lot of women prefer to work out in a gym or at home because they feel safer, but there are still millions of women who enjoy running or walking or biking or hiking outside to stay fit. There is no reason that you can’t work out outdoors, but there safety tips to help prevent an assault or abduction. Stay safe and you can enjoy the outdoors as much as you want.

Travel and Vacation Safety

   When you’re on vacation security and safety are often the last things on your mind but you should always think about your safety when you travel, especially if you are traveling to another country. Traveling abroad can be tricky for women because the customs and attitudes towards women are very different in some other countries than they are here. Tourists are always at risk of being robbed or worse but women need to be extra careful.

Online Safety

   Being online is a big part of people’s social lives these days. There are online games, social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, online dating sites and lots of other sites where people can meet and network. Unfortunately, being very visible online can put at risk for being assaulted. The number of cases where women are being assaulted and even killed by people that found them on the Internet is growing every year. Do you do enough to protect yourself when you’re online?

Dating Safety

   More than 75% of the women who are assaulted each year are assaulted by someone they know, usually on a date. Dating safety is very important. Naturally when you are dating someone you want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Most women let their guard down on a date because they think their date would never hurt them or that if the date was untrustworthy they’d be able to see it. Unfortunately most predators don’t come with a sign identifying them as predators, and by the time you figure out they are predators it’s too late. So it’s very important that you be on your guard on a date, just the same way that you are on the street.

Safety in a Relationship

   You might think that your relationship is perfectly healthy when really your partner is someone that might assault or hurt you. Most women are attacked or killed by someone they know and often someone they love. Domestic violence is the single largest cause of injury to women. Millions of women are beaten or assaulted by their partner every year and thousands more are murdered by their spouses. It doesn’t matter what your job is, how much money your have or where you live, how much education have or what your social status is. Domestic violence occurs in 60% of all marriages and can be found in every type of family. Most of the time women who are married to abusive men don’t realize right away that the man is abusive or has abusive tendencies and by the time they do realize it they feel trapped.

   A woman might stay with abusive because she feels powerless, or because she is financially dependent on him, or because she wants to stay close to her children. There are lots of reasons why women stay with men who have or might assault or even kill them.

   Sometimes women do fight back and kill their abusive spouse. Usually when women who are abused by men fight back the self defense laws do not protect them because the law doesn’t recognize the effect that years of abuse and assault can have on a woman’s mental state. Some experts estimate that as many as 90% of the women who are in prison for committing a violent crime are there are because they killed an abusive spouse. If you have an uneasy feeling about someone that you are dating or if sometimes the person that you are dating or your spouse makes you feel uncomfortable and disrespected then you should always listen to that feeling. Your intuition could be warning you that the person you are in a relationship with might be showing abusive tendencies.

   There are 10 common signs of an abusive personality. If your boyfriend or spouse shows more than three of these signs then it might be time for you to end the relationship because things get worse. If you are involved with someone that is potentially abusive you should get out before he assaults you, rapes you, or hits you. Once you know that a person has abusive tendencies chances are very good that at some point he will cross the line and attack you.

Read about the TEN WARNING SIGNS YOUR PARTNER MAY BE ABUSIVE:

Full details available here:

www.WomensLifestylePublications.com/health-wellbeing/womens-self-defense/

   It can be very scary and very unpleasant to have to think about what you will do if you are ever attacked. It’s scary to think that women have to be on guard all the time, even around people that they love. But knowing how to take care of yourself and knowing self defense is empowering. Sure, you still have to be on your guard but the more that you learn about self defense and the more that you trust your instincts about people the more you will find that you are drawn to people that you can trust. And you will be more confident when you know that no matter what happens you are prepared. Knowing how to protect yourself in any situation will give the freedom to do whatever you want in life and achieve anything that you want.

Do you want to travel the world by yourself? If you know how to travel safely you can do it.

Do you like to go running in the dark? Follow the safety tips you learn in your self defense training and go for it.

Do you have the courage to walk away from an abusive relationship and say, “I deserve more than this!”? Self defense training will help you find that courage in yourself. Violence happens.

   It happens every day. You need to really accept that and be prepared, but you can’t let that rule your life. You can’t hide inside your house or cower every time someone passes you on the street. Learning self defense is about learning to take control of your life, your safety and your body.

Good luck to you on your journey, and stay safe!

Introducing Feng Shui:

  You have probably heard of Feng Shui in many different contexts. Most often, Feng Shui is mentioned as a way to move your furniture around in order to achieve a sort of harmonious balance within the home.

  Although the placement of your furniture is indeed a major aspect of making your home and other places more Feng Shui friendly, there is a lot more to this ancient practice. You may not have realized it, but Feng Shui is something that has been around for a very long time, and, although it is quite trendy nowadays, it has been in use by people for many, many years. As with many ancient practices, Feng Shui has experienced a rebirth within Western civilization as people continue to search for ways to strike a harmonious balance within their lives. Feng Shui is multifaceted and at times can be quite complex, but if you simply want to know the basics behind Feng Shui so that you can give it a try within your own home then it isn’t too terribly difficult to start.

Brief History of Feng Shui:

  The history of Feng Shui is actually quite fascinating. Similarly to many other traditions stemming from ancient Eastern philosophies, Feng Shui has experienced times during which it was considered obscure while also experiencing times during which it was considered quite vogue. You may be surprised to learn that not only has Feng Shui been around for a few years, but it has been around long before you, long before your parents, long before your parents' parents, and long before the people ahead of them. The fact that Feng Shui keeps reemerging makes it all the more fascinating. Most Feng Shui historians claim that the practice has been around for thousands of years…over three thousand years by most accounts.

  The fact that Feng Shui utilizes many complicated methods and theories is a high testament to the ancient Chinese culture that created Feng Shui. Since Feng Shui has been around for so long it is unlikely that the modern day Feng Shui is exactly as the original Feng Shui was, and in fact there are so many deviations from the original Feng Shui that several branches of Feng Shui exist. While one version of Feng Shui may claim that a certain color can accomplish certain goals, another version of Feng Shui may make a completely different claim. Whichever form of Feng Shui you decide to follow in your quest to have a more harmonious living space, you can rest assured that the principles you're following have been around much longer than you have, and have been tested by a wide variety of people long before you (or anyone you know) walked the Earth.

  In the 1970's within the United States there was a surge of interest in ancient Chinese methods and thought, and one of the theories to get recognized and utilized was Feng Shui. Its popularity has grown throughout the years with a recent influx of interest in Feng Shui as the term becomes more popular and familiar within modern culture. Feng Shui has become so popular, as a matter of fact, that some People have essentially created their own forms of Feng Shui and turned it into either a religious idea or instead into a clever marketing ploy.

Feng Shui utilizes the five elements. When you are reading about Feng Shui you will probably come across these terms quite often: fire, earth, wood, water, and metal. Feng Shui principles state that each of these elements not only has a distinct effect on the surrounding environment, but also that you can utilize an appropriate element in order to get your desired results. Some elements are considered more "Chi-conducive" than others. Here is a brief explanation of what each element is used for within Feng Shui:

• Fire is utilized when you want to have more passion and energy. You aren't supposed to overuse this element, however, because it can overtake everything around it if used too much. In Chinese, fire is referred to as Huo.

• Earth is utilized when you want to be more relaxed and have more patience. In Chinese, earth is referred to as Tu.

• Wood is utilized when you want to be more creative and allow your mind to work innovatively. It is also used when you want to become more popular and make more friends. In Chinese, wood is referred to as Mu.

• Water is utilized when you want to be clearer in your efforts to get your points across, either through written communications or verbal communications. In Chinese, water is referred to as Shui.

• Metal is utilized when you want to be more successful in your career, such as when the time comes to ask for a raise or promotion. In Chinese, metal is referred to as Jin.

  Each element has a corresponding color or colors and also represents various stages within a human life. You may find that, depending on the Feng Shui school of thought that you follow, each element can mean something completely different and may have different corresponding colors and life stages.

  Remember that there are many different forms of Feng Shui, so you should not be confused if you run across more than one explanation for the same thing. The best thing to do is to find the type of Feng Shui that works best for you and then stick with its principles.

See full edition for complete information: @ www.FengShuiDecorating.com.au

Feng Shui for Your House:

Everyone is looking for a way to make their homes more peaceful. Feng Shui is commonly used within living quarters, although it can also be used within various other contexts. If you have heard of Feng Shui before then it is quite likely that you heard of it in regard to making a home more peaceful and allowing harmonious energy to flow throughout the home. There is so much more to Feng Shui than the little blurbs you have undoubtedly heard (place your bed a certain way to sleep better, keep paint colors relatively calm, et cetera), but luckily it isn't too difficult to begin using Feng Shui within your home. Once you know the basics you can then decide if you want to continue on and get a little more intricate and complex with your Feng Shui tactics within your home and elsewhere.

Feng Shui Your Bedroom:

Here are the basic principles of making your bedroom Feng Shui friendly.

There are specific guidelines that Feng Shui experts suggest when it comes to making sure your bedroom is as harmonious as possible:

• Your bed needs specific placement within the room. For most people, their bed is the centerpiece of the bedroom. According to Feng Shui principles, the bed should be accessible from both sides. That means that you shouldn't place your bed next to a wall, making it approachable only from one angle. You should also have two bedside tables, with one table on each side of the bed. This helps your energy flow as well as gives you a practical place to set things near your bed.

  You aren't supposed to have your bed directly in line with the bedroom door, according to Feng Shui, and you also need to concentrate on making your bed a welcome fixture beyond where it is placed within the room. Feng Shui experts stress the importance of having a comfortable bed and sheets that are luxurious and devoid of uncomfortable fibers and other materials.

• The air in your bedroom should be as clean and fresh as possible. Opening your windows is one thing, but getting an air filter in your room opens up a whole new can of Feng Shui worms. The placement of an air filter in your room can disturb the energy flow within the room, and there is even some debate as to whether air filters are even beneficial. For example, HEPA filters can collect mold and disburse it back into your room, and ionic air filters have been criticized for the ions sent out into the air to collect harmful particles.

  The best thing you can do is to open up the windows in your bedroom and let lots of nice, fresh air into your room as often as possible. If you really feel as though you need an air filter, try to place it somewhere in the room where it will be effective, yet unobtrusive to the flow of the room. Look for an air filter that is not noisy or exceedingly large.

• Get rid of bulky and distracting devices. Plenty of people love to end their evenings by watching some television while in bed, but having a television in your bedroom is a big Feng Shui no-no. Not only do Feng Shui gurus urge people to get televisions out of the bedroom; other experts also suggest that items like this are best left out of the bedroom to ensure a better night's sleep. You'll be much less likely to miss out on sleep due to sitting in front of the TV late at night if you don't have such ready access to one, and you give your body a better chance of winding down when you aren't staring at a television.

  Many experts suggest you use your bed for two things – sleeping, and having sex – and avoiding activities such as reading or watching TV. Televisions aren't the only offending items you can have in your bedroom. Exercise bikes and other equipment should be considered banned from the bedroom if you are attempting to make your bedroom as Feng Shui friendly as you possibly can.

• Use candles. Use common sense when you decide to add candles to your room's décor. No matter how spiritual or balanced the glow of a candle makes you feel, you need to make sure that you're not placing candles right next to drapes or other flammable items.

  You should also make sure that the candles you use aren't incredibly scented to where they overwhelm the room, and you certainly don't want to invest in some candles that emit chemicals that are bad for your respiratory system. This means you should skip on the extremely cheap candles, which release some odd smoke and tacky smells. The flames may look nice and relaxing, but once you get a whiff of the smoke your coughing fit won't really help your quest to find peace and harmony in your bedroom. It's hard to feel at peace when you can't really breathe.

• Close the doors when you sleep. Nervous parents may find this a particularly difficult Feng Shui principle to follow because sometimes parents just want to be able to hear the kids breathing deeply in their sleep. Nonetheless, Feng Shui dictates that you close your bedroom door when you are sleeping, and also that you close any other doors that you may have in your bedroom. Close the door to your bathroom, close your closet doors, and close the door leading out to your adjoining balcony, if you have one.

  You also want to avoid sleeping with your head facing any of these doors, although this can be a tough tip to follow if you have doors throughout your bedroom. Just make sure that if you actually have to sleep with your head facing a door that the door remains closed throughout the night.

If you're only doing one room, make it your bedroom. Since Feng Shui is all about finding a harmonious balance with your living environment, you should consider making your bedroom the most important room to achieve this balance. Even if your bedroom is used solely for sleeping – in other words, you don’t really spend that much time at all in your bedroom other than the time you spend snoozing away on your bed – getting a good night's sleep is one of the most important aspects to keeping the rest of the balance in your life.

  Unless you are one of the lucky few people who really don't need that much sleep at all in order to thrive and function well on a daily basis, most people will agree that if there is going to be one peaceful and balanced room in a house it should be the bedroom. So when you first start out with your Feng Shui exploration you may want to consider starting with the bedroom. Some people rearrange their bedrooms into a Feng Shui configuration with no intention of ever moving on to doing other rooms, but then afterward they have such a great experience with the new vibe in their bedroom that they move on to rearrange other rooms.

Really, you can Feng Shui your entire house if you get motivated enough. Start with the bedroom and see where it goes from there.

Be careful of what you decorate your bedroom with. You spend an awful lot of time in your bedroom, and even though a good portion of that time may be spent sleeping you still need to be mindful of what is adorning your bedroom walls. With regard to Feng Shui, you should make sure that your room is painted a color that you find relaxing yet enticing. Some Feng Shui experts suggest only using color tones in the bedroom that naturally occur on human skin, although you don't necessarily have to go out and try to find paint that matches your flesh tones exactly.

  As far as any paintings or other artwork that you choose to hang on your bedroom walls, you should make sure that the art reflects where you want to go in life. In other words, an oil painting of a sad clown hanging above your bed is probably not the best choice for your Feng Shui-friendly bedroom, unless for some reason your goal in life is to be a sullen clown, of course.

See full edition for complete information: @ www.FengShuiDecorating.com.au

Bedrooms for Kids:

Now here is a room where you want harmonious energy.

• Pay attention to loud toys.

• Where is the crib or bed?

• Seasoned parents will laugh at this one: Keep the clutter to a minimum.

• Where are all the toys?

• What is the bedroom next to?

      And much more in the Full Edition eBook @ www.FengShuiDecorating.com.au

How intricate do you want to get?

  One of the great things about Feng Shui is that a good portion of the principles are not too complex. For example, certain colors attract certain things, and so you choose your colors accordingly based on your goals. There are other principles within Feng Shui that are quite intricate, however, and many people who use Feng Shui in their home never delve deep enough into the entire process to reach this level of intricacy.

  Save the intricate Feng Shui principles until you have spent some time implementing some of the less complex principles and then go from there. You shouldn't purchase a huge and complex Feng Shui book that is hard for a layperson to follow if it is your first experience with Feng Shui. Start simple and see if you can embrace the general principles before you jump in full speed ahead with the more intricate principles of Feng Shui.

  Feng Shui can be extremely complicated, or it can be delightfully simple. It all depends on how serious you want to be in your quest for positive "Chi" flow within your home. There are some people who spend countless hours and countless dollars in their quest to have a home that features the best energy flow as possible. On the other hand, there are other people who plop a Feng Shui fountain on their coffee table and never go any further.

  Your level of involvement is probably dependent upon the success you derive from your efforts and also the level of effort you have to put forth in order to achieve success. While some people are more than willing to work hard and do the research necessary in order to get results, there are also many people who don't want to do anything that might not garner immediate results.

  So how long will it take you before you can start noticing results from your Feng Shui efforts? Some changes you make might result in almost immediate results. Moving some things around within your bedroom, for example, might open up the energy flow and result in a much better night's sleep that very same night. Or it may just feel as though the whole house is a little more welcoming than it was before.

  Other changes may not be noticed for some time; if you try to use Feng Shui to boost your recognition within your work, you're still probably not going to stroll into work the next day and find a promotion and a raise waiting for you. Feng Shui isn't magic.

  If you do derive results from your use of Feng Shui then you can start to use it in different aspects of your life. If you don't derive any results from Feng Shui then you may want to try a different version of Feng Shui or simply decide that it's not your cup of tea.

Either way, at least you can say you're testing out the latest ‘trends’.

  We bring to you a great eBook, Feng Shui Decorating – More than Furniture Placement, with over 50 pages of straight facts, nothing but relevant information. This is a must get Guide to best maximize your results before you spend any more money on useless paraphernalia. You probably already have almost everything you need to get started,

  Discover the Benefits of Feng Shui Decorating with this brilliant eBook, Feng Shui Decorating – More than Furniture Placement only at www.FengShuiDecorating.com.au

 Great Reading, Enjoy discovering the Benefits of Feng Shui.