The 7 Deadly Sins and the TAO

<b>The 7 Deadly Sins and the TAO</b>
Use the TAO wisdom to overcome the 7 Deadly Sins, and live in reality, instead of in fancy and fantasy.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Smart and Healthy Pregnancy

Congratulations! You’ve done what only a woman can do: becoming pregnant. Hopefully, this is what you’ve been hoping and planning for. Even if it’s a pleasant surprise to you, pregnancy is going to be a new chapter in your life. Pregnancy is going to change your life forever.

No matter what, it’s important to have guidelines for a safe and healthy pregnancy throughout, and this is what this book is all about: the dos and don’ts, the whys and the why nots of what a pregnant woman should know and act accordingly.

Remember, a baby is the most wonderful gift a couple can give to each other. Pregnancy is an amazing, exciting, and educational experience for a couple to share with each other. From fertility, conception, to the miracle of birth, a couple experiences emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual transformation that is not only sensational but also challenging during this nine-month period.

To ensure that the baby has the best possible beginning in life, you need to empower yourself with the dos and don’ts. Good luck to you and your baby!

by Sally Smart

This book is written for mothers-to-be, who want to have a healthy pregnancy giving a healthy and smart baby. To get your digital copy, click here.

Sally Smart
 

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Another FREE Book for Download

EYE EXERCISES FOR BETTER VISION
By Stephen Lau

This is a book on using eye exercises to overcome bad vision habits that lead to poor vision. The author explains that the eye is an organ of the body, which is controlled by the mind, vision health is holistic health of the body and the mind. 

Good vision is determined by the flexibility of eye muscles. If you exercise your body, there is no rhyme or reason why you should not exercise your eyes for better vision.

The author himself has poor vision due to his myasthenia gravis, which is an autoimmune disease affecting his eye muscles. He is sharing his own experience to use eye exercises for better vision.

Get this book for FREE. Click here to go to the page for your FREE download. 

Stephen Lau

Saturday, October 7, 2017

Get the Wisdom to Be a Smart Parent



TAO wisdom is the profound human wisdom from ancient China more than 2,600 years ago. It is expressed in TAO TE CHING, one of the most translated works in world literature.

There are many translations and interpretations of Lao Tzu’s ancient classic “Tao Te Ching.”  Given that the Chinese language is often capable of multiple meanings, following the exact Chinese translation may make the flow of the language uneven and even difficult to understand. 

The book contains not only the complete 81 chapters of Lao Tzu’s immortal classic but also the author’s own interpretations of the essentials of TAO  wisdom (which is the wisdom of Lao Tzu) for easier intuition and assimilation.

Get this book of wisdom for FREE up to May 8 2017!

To get your FREE digital copy, click here


Monday, October 2, 2017

FREE Book for Post Pregnancy Weight Loss!

Download this book ABSOLUTELY FREE to lose a few extra pounds after your pregnancy!

All-Round Weight Loss
by Stephen Lau

Everybody wants to lose some weight; some even want to lose a lot more. But almost everybody gains back all the pounds that have been lost, and then some.

Why is that? Because weight loss is not just about eating less—after all, everybody wants to eat more, not less. Weight loss is about everything, just as Oprah Winfrey once said: “My greatest failure was in believing that the weight issue was just about weight.” Oprah was right. Weight loss is all-round; that is, it involves the body, the mind, and the spirit. To illustrate, weight loss is also about the thinking mind; it is the thoughts that make you fat, more than anything else. According to Esther and Jerry Hicks' bestseller "Money and the Law of Attraction," people not only want the food but also believe that the food will make them fat, and thus have created that which they do not want; unfortunately, their thoughts attract what they do not want, so their bodies respond to the thinking mind, and gain instead of losing weight.

Therefore, going on a fad diet, abstaining from certain types of food, reducing calorie consumption-all these only contribute to the weight-loss hype that sustains the billion-dollar weight-loss industry. The consumers forever lose in the battle of the bulge.

ALL-ROUND WEIGHT LOSS is holistic weight management in that it covers every aspect of weight loss, beginning with the mind, the body, and then the spirit, to make weight loss natural and permanent. Only holistic weight management guarantees lasting weight loss. Do not waste money on diets, and weight-loss products and programs that do not work. Follow the author's simple but comprehensive holistic approach to wellness and weight management. Remember, if you are healthy in body, mind, and soul, you will not have any weight problem.

Click here to go to the page to get your book ABSOLUTELY FREE!

Stephen Lau

Monday, September 25, 2017

Healthy Pregnancy

Getting pregnant is far from being a parent. Generally speaking, it may not be that difficult to become pregnant if both are healthy. But to be a good parent is not easy, and successful parenthood is a lifetime challenge -- one of the many great challenges in life. As a matter of fact, nowadays, many are unfit to be parents; they become parents simply because they are pregnant and have no other choice -- a case in point, the prevalence of child abuse and children being abandoned by their parents.

Be that as it may, there are still many of us who would like to have our own children and be good parents to them. Pregnancy is a major turning point in an individual's life -- opening a new chapter of experiences to be shared and enjoyed by the couple. 

Most recently, my daughter became pregnant with her first child. We are all excited about the pregnancy and the imminent parenthood. 

There are, however, many things a mother should learn to do during the nine months of pregnancy. In addition, there are also many things that her spouse has to do to help her cope with and overcome the challenge of pregnancy, including the physical, the mental, the emotional, and even the spiritual changes brought on by the pregnancy. A safe and healthy pregnancy plays a pivotal part in producing a healthy and smart baby.

The Dos and Don'ts During Pregnancy provides some good advice to help the parents, especially the first-time ones. This book is concise and comprehensive, very highly recommended.


Stephen Lau



Monday, September 4, 2017

The 29 Steps to Teach Your Child to Read

Don’t wait for the preschool to teach your child to read; do it now! Reading is a complicated skill, and that explains why so many Americans are illiterate. The following shows the steps involved in learning how to read:

STEP 1:   Developing Motor Abilities & Sensory Perception
STEP 2:   Initiating Imitation
STEP 3:   Developing Thinking
STEP 4:   Pointing at Things
STEP 5:   Developing Active Speech
STEP 6:   Familiarizing with the Orientation of Print
STEP 7:   Teaching Perception and Discrimination
STEP 8:   Teaching Visual/Perceptual Consistency
STEP 9:   Auditory, Visual Sequencing, and Memory Skills
STEP 10: Introducing Finger Painting
STEP 11: Beginning Writing Skill
STEP 12: Introducing Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies
STEP 13: Introducing Picture Story Books
STEP 14: Teaching Prediction
STEP 15: Teaching Word Recognition
STEP 16: Teaching the Alphabet
STEP 17: Teaching Pronunciation
STEP 18: Developing Independent Reading
STEP 19: Learning Sounds and Their Letters
STEP 20: Encouraging Printing
STEP 21: Lap Reading
STEP 22: Shared Reading
STEP 23: Paired Reading

STEP 24: Teaching Language Irregularities
STEP 25: Extending Sight Vocabulary
STEP 26: Encouraging the Use of Symbols
STEP 27: Exploring Different Modes of Discourse
STEP 28: Creating a Proper Writing Environment
STEP 29: Teaching the Sentence

You can begin teaching your child to read. It’s the duty and obligation of the parents to teach their children to read at an early age.

Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Friday, September 1, 2017

Preparing Your Pregnancy

Getting pregnant is a big deal because you're going to have a baby, and a baby is going to change your life completely. There are many things to consider before you decide to go ahead with getting pregnant.

Do physical checkup first for both you and your partner. (why: to resolve all health issues and problems, e.g. chronic diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.).

Do blood tests to check your immunity to German measles (why: it can cause malformations in the baby) and chicken pox (why: immunization before conception if you have not had it before); to check your antibodies from toxoplasmosis (why: an infection that may affect conception and pregnancy).

Do discuss medical conditions with your doctor: previous pregnancy problems, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, premature baby; genetic disorders in family; current prescribed medications.

Do dental checkup (why: gum diseases may lead to premature birth), and dental work (why: avoiding filling or extraction during pregnancy).

Do weight management (why: overweight may lead to diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy; underweight may result in a small baby, problems during labor, and after birth).

Do find out your ideal weight: to determine that, you need to know your height, and weight, as well as your waist size (i.e. your waist circumference between your rib cage and above your belly button). A waistline of 35 inches or more for most women may indicate overweight.

Do find out your Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a measure of your body fat based on your weight and height. Your BMI is determined by this formula: BMI = (body weight in pounds) divided by (body height in inches x body height in inches) multiplied by (703). To illustrate, if you are 5’11” tall and you weigh 165 pounds, your BMI will be: (165/71x71) x 703 = 23   The BMI numbers have the following implications:

Any BMI that falls between 19 and 24.9 is considered ideal and healthy. 
Any BMI that is below 18.5 is considered underweight.
Any BMI that ranges from 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight; any BMI that is above 30 is considered obese.

You should be within 15 pounds of your ideal weight before pregnancy, and that also applies to your partner (why: an overweight partner may have decreased testosterone leading to depressed libido).


Do birth control until you are ready for pregnancy. Hormonal contraception may take months for fertility to return to normal. Natural family planning is the way to go.

 

Friday, June 30, 2017

Teach Your Smart Kid to Read


The 29 steps of teaching children to read!

The 6 stages of reading progress with indicators of reading readiness for each stage!

Over 90 activities/games to reinforce basic reading skills inculcated to children!

More than 50 illustrations to show you how!

They will guide you along the process of teaching children to read.

You will enjoy 29 STEPS TO TEACH YOUR SMART CHILD TO READ with its rich illustrations, as well as the memorable experience of teaching children to read step-by-step through activities, games and your everyday interactions with them. 


Make it a fun time to turn children into not only early but also proficient readers. 


This 117-page is based on how I taught my daughter to read some 30 years ago. 

Like all proud parents, I was and still am proud of the fact that I could teach her how to read when she just turned three (most children learn at the age of five). The TV and all electronic devices may not be as effective as YOU, the parent, to teach your child through everyday intellectual interactions, games, and activities. 

This book provides 29 steps that could begin as early as your baby is one-month-old. My daughter became a proficient reader when she was five (reading books with little or no illustrations). By seven, she would not let me teach her anything -- she could find everything from books. It paid off and it's worth all the initial efforts in teaching her to become an early reader. Now she's an attorney in the United States.  I wrote this book because she has recently become a mother herself, and that's why I wrote this book to share my experience some three decades ago.

You can do it, and the book will show you how!

Also, read my book" Make Your Smart Baby Super Smart.

Stephen Lau


Monday, June 26, 2017

A Balanced Acid-Alkaline Diet for a Healthy Pregnancy

Do adopt a balanced acid-alkaline diet throughout your pregnancy (why: a balanced acid-alkaline level increases your energy and vitality, neutralizes excess acids in your body, removes accumulated toxins in your blood, strengthens your immune system and organ systems, destroys harmful microorganisms, and balances the pH in your body).
  
Your body cells, as well as those of your baby, need an optimum environment for growth and replication: they need a balanced acid-and-alkaline environment. Acid and alkaline are substances that have opposing qualities. Your body functions at its best when the pH is optimum, which is slightly alkaline. The pH of your blood, tissues, and body fluids directly affect the state of your cellular health as well as that of your baby.
  
The pH scale ranges between one and fourteen. Seven is considered neutral. Anything below seven is considered acidic, while anything above seven is considered alkaline. Deviations above or below a 7.30 and 7.40 pH range can signal potentially serious and even dangerous health conditions.
  
Don’t let your body become too acidic (why not: when your body is too acidic, the tissues of your cells are forced to relinquish their alkaline reserves, depleting them of alkaline minerals, which are the components of the tissues themselves; the acute shortage of alkaline minerals will lead to disease and the malfunctioning of the immune system).
  
Acidification comes from excess intake of foods containing great amounts of acid, and insufficient elimination by the body through the kidneys (urination) and the skin (sweating). Not too much acid can actually stay in the bloodstream, and, accordingly, any excess is directed to other body organs and tissues, where it can accumulate.
  
Too much acidification can make you unhealthy, and even sick:
    
The corrosive nature of acid irritates your body organs, causing inflammation, which is often a source of body pain, pain, and hardening of tissues.

Acidic sweat may cause skin allergy, especially in areas where sweat seems to accumulate, such as the armpits.
Acidic urine may cause infection and inflammation in the urinary tract, resulting in bladder problems.

Acidification may cause lesions of the mucous membranes, for example, your respiratory system, making them vulnerable to infections.

Acidification decreases the activity of enzymes in the body, which are responsible for proper digestion of foods and assimilation of nutrients.
Loss of minerals may result in bone loss and brittle bones for the baby, as well as joint inflammation and hair loss for the mother.

Diet is the main contributor to excess acidification in the body. Your diet is the primary source that determines your acid-alkaline level in your body. All the foods you eat can be divided into three main groups:

Acidifying Foods

Acidifying foods are characterized by their high protein content, and/or fats, including the following:

Meat, poultry, fish and seafood
Eggs
Cheese
Vegetable oils
Whole grains
Beans, such as broad bean, chickpeas, peanuts, soybeans, and white beans
Bread, pasta, and cereals
Sweets and sugars, including brown sugar and honey
Sugary drinks and sodas
Alcohol, coffee, and tea

Your digestion of protein produces amino acids (containing acid minerals, such as phosphorus and sulfur) during digestion, and uric acids during acidic degradation.
  
You utilize fat in the form of fatty acids, and your digestion of saturated fat is often incomplete, resulting in toxic acid substances that contribute to acidification.
  
Your digestion of glucose may be adversely affected by inadequate or poor metabolism, turning originally alkaline elements into acidic ones.
  
Your consumption of too much sugar (the average person in the United States consumes approximately 90 pounds per year—which is much too much) strains your body’s metabolism in converting it into energy, and thus creating more acid in the process.
  
The bottom line: do consume less acidifying food. 

Acid Foods
  
Acid foods may be alkalizing if your body’s metabolism is efficient. In other words, if your body can easily metabolize and oxidize them, these foods can be transformed into alkaline elements, making your body more alkaline, instead of more acidic.

Acid foods contain a good deal of acid, and are acidic in taste, include the following:

Blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries
Grapefruit, lemons, oranges, and tangerines
Sweet fruits, such as watermelon
Unripe fruits
Acid vegetable, such as rhubarb, tomato, and watercress
Honey
Vinegar
Yogurt

Do eat the fruit, instead of drinking its juice (why: alkaline minerals are present in the pulp; the juice without the pulp is only more acidic). Cooking fruits does not remove their acidity.
    
Alkalizing Foods

Alkalizing foods contain little or no acid substances, and they do not produce acids when metabolized by your body. Alkalizing foods include the following:

Green vegetables
Colored vegetables (except tomato)
Chestnut
Potato
Avocado
Black olives
Bananas
Dried fruits
Almonds and Brazil nuts
Milk
Alkaline mineral waters
Cold-pressed oils

Potato, especially its juice, is good for stomach acidity and ulcers. It is often an ideal alternative to acidifying cereal grains.
  

Dried fruits are alkalizing (why: much of the acid is removed through the drying process). Do eat more dried fruits during pregnancy.

Sally Smart


Monday, June 12, 2017

A Healthy Pregnancy

Getting pregnant, especially for the first time, is usually an exciting experience. But it is also challenging to become pregnant with your first child and to confront the imminent parenthood. 



There are, however, many things a mother should learn to do during the nine months of pregnancy. In addition, there are also many things that her spouse has to do to help her cope with and overcome the challenge of pregnancy, including the physical, the mental, the emotional, and even the spiritual changes brought on by the pregnancy. A safe and healthy pregnancy plays a pivotal part in producing a healthy and smart baby.

The Dos and Don'ts During Pregnancy provides some good advice to help the parents, especially the first-time ones. This book is concise and comprehensive, very highly recommended.

Stephen Lau








Monday, June 5, 2017

How To Be A Wise Parent?

Are you a wise parent?

In spite of living in an age of information and technology, many of us may only be knowledgeable but not wise, although we may delude ourselves into thinking that we are wise.

Given that life is limited and knowledge is unlimited, using what is limited to seek out the unlimited is not only futile but also unwise. Yet many people seek knowledge in a futile attempt to attain and accumulate wisdom. But true wisdom is the application and interpretation of limited knowledge assimilated and internalized through a variety of life experiences in order to understand better the nature of things. This profound understanding is true wisdom.

Wisdom has much to do with the thinking mind, that is, how the mind thinks.

Your mind is your being, and your brain is the most important of all your body organs because it controls your thinking, and hence your whole being. How you think, what you choose, how you act or react, and what you do with all your life experiences—they ultimately become not only your memories but also your realities.

Descartes, the famous French philosopher, once said: “I think, therefore I am.” Indeed, your thoughts become what and who you “think” you are right now.

Therefore, it is your thinking that holds the key to unlocking true human wisdom. As mentioned previously, true wisdom is not the same as extensive knowledge: a wise person is not necessarily knowledgeable. Human wisdom is the capacity and capability of the human mind to intuit knowledge accumulated and life experiences encountered, and then apply that self-intuition to everyday living to live as if everything is a miracle.

Important as it is, thinking is not easy, just as Albert Einstein once said: “Thinking is difficult; that is why so few people do it.” To become a wise parent you must do your thinking, and do it often.

Understanding the Thinking Mind

Understand that thinking is a process of self-intuition through asking relevant questions to create self-awareness and self-introspection. It is the natural habit of the human mind to try to solve problems by asking questions. Through solving problems, the mind can then make things happen. Asking questions is self-empowering wisdom because it creates the intent to learn and to change.

Understand the importance of asking questions, and continue to ask meaningful and relevant questions through-out your life.

If you are a wise parent, you will also be  a better and happier  parent.

Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Monday, May 1, 2017

Weight Management Before Pregnancy


Weight management is critical to a healthy pregnancy. You should be within 15 pounds of your ideal weight before pregnancy, and that also applies to your partner (why: an overweight partner may have decreased testosterone leading to depressed libido).

Do birth control until you are read y for pregnancy. Hormonal contraception may take months for fertility to return to normal. Natural family planning is the way to go.

Do boost nutrients for a healthy pregnancy. Important nutrients include the following:

Calcium (why: avoiding back and leg pain, insomnia, and irritability)—eat figs and raw leeks.

Folic acid (why: avoiding structural defects)—eat chives. Chives are a nutrient-dense food low in calories but high in nutrients. Always use a sharp knife to cut chives (why: avoid bruising the herb), and add chives to any dish near the end of cooking (why: avoid losing its flavor).

Iron (why: healthy growth of baby)—eat chives.

Magnesium (why: cellular development; over-coming early pregnancy discomfort, such as constipation)—eat chives.

Manganese (why: baby’s normal skeletal development)—eat raw leeks.
Vitamin B6 (why: avoiding nausea and morning sickness; metabolizing proteins, carbohydrates, and fats)—eat raw leeks.

Vitamin C (why: proper absorption of iron)—eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin K (why: healthy bone growth and proper blood-clot formation)—eat raw leeks.

All the above nutrients and vitamins are especially important not only for pre-pregnancy but also for the first trimester of pregnancy.

Do get sufficient sleep (why: research has shown that the more sleep you get,  the less time of labor may ensue; getting less than 5 hours of sleep may even increase the chance of having a C-section for delivery. Do set a schedule for your sleeping hours to help your body get on a set schedule of sleep. Do go to bed earlier.

Do take herbs to increase fertility (why: drink clover flower tea and nettle tea to increase female fertility).

Do avoid unpasteurized milk and blue-veined cheeses.

Do cook all your food thoroughly.

Do help your partner to enhance his fertility. According to a Danish study, overweight men have fewer sperms. According to State University of New York, placing laptop computers on laps may decrease sperms (why: due to accumulation of heat). Certain drugs on men’s hair loss, high blood pressure, and ulcers may also affect the quality of sperms. Do increase his intake of folic acid, vitamin C, and zinc to enhance the quality of sperms.althy

Have a healthy pregnancy!

Sally Smart