Monday, September 28, 2009

Helping children who lost a parent to breast cancer

Lorraine Jackson was diagnosed with very early stage breast cancer when she was 40. Because of the cancer’s early detection, she was able to be treated with radiation. Doctors explained that had this happened to her only 10 years earlier she would have needed a mastectomy.

At that moment Lorraine personally realized how important education and medical innovation are to effectively treating cancer patients.

Spark of Inspiration

During her treatment, Lorraine met other women undergoing treatment for cancer, many of these women were mothers. While fighting for their own health, these mothers were also concerned about their children, and their children's future, especially if they didn't survive the cancer.

This experience inspired Lorraine to start The Lorraine Jackson Foundation. Since 2005, the nonprofit has provided mentoring and college scholarships to children who have lost a parent to breast cancer through their Pearls of Hope Scholarship Program. All students who receive a scholarship from us are students who have a lost their mother to breast cancer. "One lost her mom when she was 11 months old, and another when he was 5. Some students have lost their mother while they were in high school, " Lorraine says.

To make the scholarship awards even more impactful, California Dollars for Scholars matches the amount of each scholarship awarded within their collegiate partner program. But the Lorraine Jackson Foundation doesn’t just provide financial support. It also pairs each student with a mentor who will stay in touch throughout their time in college and beyond.

Increased Need
There has been an influx of scholarship applicants this year, which Lorraine attributes to a growing need in the community to help children who have lost a parent to breast cancer. To date, scholarship recipients have gone on to matriculate at a variety of institutions from UCLA to the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

www.PearlsofHope.com

Pearls of Hope® is a registered trademark of The Lorraine Jackson
Foundation, a California 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Life can be as sweet as you make it

How to find love in loss

Can we find sweet moments amid life changes? This month’s Spiritual Cinema Circle volume brings a message of love and hope within life’s difficult moments. Starring Kristen Stewart (Twilight) and Bruce Dern (Monster) the feature, Cake Eaters, is a coming-of-age drama all ages can relate to. This heart-felt story explores the new (and old) connections between two small-town families. A young woman with degenerative disease feels she has no time to lose in becoming a woman while a widower struggles to reconcile with his sons. Sparks fly as young love story begins and a longtime romance comes to light.

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Sunday, September 20, 2009

Happy National Women's Friendship Day

National Women's Friendship Month first began as National Women's Friendship Day in 1999 (celebrated the third Sunday in September each year).

Following the 10th anniversary of National Women's Friendship Day in 2008, it became apparent that one day just wasn't enough, so the celebration was expanded to the entire month of September beginning in 2009.

"All women find strength, comfort and inspiration from their girlfriends," said Melanie Schild, Executive Director of Kappa Delta and the brains behind the creation of the celebration. "In a time of increasing demands, we want to encourage women to take the time to nurture and celebrate these important relationships."

Plus a landmark study by UCLA suggests that friendships between women are special. They shape who we are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. But they may do even more. Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis.

"Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experience stress, they trigger a hormonal cascade that revs the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible," explains Laura Cousino Klein, PhD, now an assistant professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University in State College and one of the study's authors. It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers. Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just "fight or flight.

"In fact, says Dr.Klein, "it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress response in a woman, it buffers the fight or flight" response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. This calming response does not occur in men, says Dr. Klein, because testosterone- which men produce in high levels when they're under stress- seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen, she adds, seems to enhance it.
(Yay - finally estrogen is a good thing.)

The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life. In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friend or confidante was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight!

Click these links to read more about the National Women's Friendship Month and the UCLA study.

Celebrate!!!!!


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Power of the Number 9

"Today is the ninth day of the ninth month in the year 2009, which means there's magic in the ethers all around you!

In Feng Shui, the number nine represents happy and prosperous conclusions that bring completion to certain cycles of our lives before embarking on a new path.

The reason that this number holds this mantle is because it's the last of the single digit integers before you get to double digits that can then be reduced back down to a single (10 = 1+0).

So, on the Feng Shui Magic Square called Lo Shui, the number nine is associated with transformation, recognition and rewards.

It's also the only number in calculation that will always reproduce itself. For instance, 9 x 2 = 18 with 1 + 8 hearkening back to the magic nine.

There's all sorts of mystery surrounding this number: on the ninth day the ancients buried their dead. The Romans honored their dead every ninth year and it was at the ninth hour that Jesus was said to have died. Hebrew teachings state the God has des cended to earth nine times. There are nine planets in the solar system and the nine is associated with mankind itself. It's the number of force and energy and its purest form denotes ambition and domination over all.

On this day try to do one or all three of these next things in order to gain the most magic you can from the energies swirling all around. Knock on your front door nine times, visualizing opportunities and advantages coming through that same space. Put nine yellow roses in the center of your home, and then light nine red candles in the 'Fame' area of your main floor.

Any one of these adjustments will put you in touch with the miracles surrounding this number, but enacting all three will put you in position of strength, power and fulfillment.

Here's to a day dedicated to the number nine, it's a total 10 in my book!

Ellen Whithurst
The (Self) Empowering Lifestylist
(one of the co-authors in the upcoming book: Stress Out)

Monday, September 7, 2009

Stress Out is coming soon!

It's approaching fast!

Stress Out will soon be here. Just in time for solutions for holiday stress and great gift idea too.

I am so excited that one chapter is by Ellen Whitehurst. You may have heard her name through ivillage.com, monster.com, Redbook, Woman's World, Natural Health or even Donald Trump. Her wisdom on Feng Shui and Astrology are published monthly in several publications and websites. And now she is going to be sharing her wisdom in this book.

This book is timely - STRESS is one of the biggest complaints heard daily - everywhere - and people are searching for answers.

Not to say the answers haven't always been there, but this book will be a resource of many choices, from many perspectives. A selection of tools and techniques from both experts in their fields and stories from individual experiences are included in this book.

Stress relief answers in each chapter that can be learned or applied immediately, and a great resource section of products and services from the co-authors, our affiliates and sponsors.

Gotta say - I'm excited. (and trying to keep from being stressed)

Ellen is only one of the empowering co-authors, stay tuned as I introduce you to some of the others as we move forward.

For now - keep breathing. It's kinda important.

Wheeeeeee.......

P.S.

"If you want to lose weight, go to a skinny doctor." Zig Ziglar

As we interpret from Zig's quote, it's more than just talking about it; it's actually putting your words into practice; and then being able to explain it well enough that someone else can benefit as well. That is why this book is a combination of expert advise and personal experience stories.








*Self Investment Publishing is not affiliated with Zig Ziglar or any of his organizations. This quote is used under Fair use Law and full credit is given to Zig Ziglar.