Jazzercise is the word that popped into my head when reflecting on what to write about this morning. I just came from the 5:30 am express class, ready to launch this beautiful day, with the music of “Working on a Dream” still playing in my head.

I didn’t know anything about Jazzercise till a friend introduced me to it a few years ago. For that gift, I am most grateful. Thought I would tell you about it in case you’d also like to give it a try. It has since become my main source of exercise.

Jazzercise combines aerobic exercise, strength training, music, and dance, all rolled into one. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a dancer. Jazzercise is a national organization, and the routines are scripted. The home office sends the instructors across the country the identical routines to practice and then teach. I have sampled lots of instructors, and all are very skilled in teaching the routines. The routines are changed every few weeks to provide variety.

After every visit, you leave the facility feeling good about yourself. You have done something to help your heart, lungs, weight, and muscles, just to mention a few, but the psychological benefit may even be more important.

There is simply something about music that helps to relieve stress. For thirty minutes or an hour (depending on the class), stress seems to melt away. This weekend Joey Korn, internationally renowned dowser, shared with us, “Music is the bridge to the spiritual world.” Something about music just makes you feel better energetically.

Here is one of the most amazing things I notice about Jazzercise: no matter your size, shape, weight, or age, each person feels welcome and at ease in every class. There is no need to fear attending if you are self conscious about your weight. No need to “lose some weight before you can go to the gym.” No need to have a hard rock body to attend! I like to study people, and I love how every single person seems to feel comfortable there.

It doesn’t take long to develop camaraderie among the attendees. The sound of laughter, accompanied by smiles, is commonplace. The organization also keeps things interesting by hosting fun little attendance contests where individuals and teams can compete for prizes such as tote bags, t-shirts, beach towels, etc.

 You can be out of state on vacation, Google jazzercise.com, and find a Jazzercise facility in the area you will be visiting. There is no additional charge when you are a visiting guest. I recently attended a facility in Florida while on vacation. Though a complete stranger, I wasn’t there 30 seconds till I was made to feel like “one of them.”

Why not Google jazzercise.com, grab a friend, and go check it out for yourself?  You can attend a session or two for free, just to try it out. Your mind, body, and spirit will thank you for it!

Forty years ago my husband’s class of 1969 turned their tassels to walk into the world…full of dreams, hopes, and ambitions. It has been two days since the reunion, and I still haven’t recovered from all that soaked into my eyes and senses that night. What happened to those dreams? How did life pass so many by?

As I walked through the door, I almost gasped. Surely we must be at the wrong event. These people are much too old.

An overwhelming feeling of sadness washed over me as I scanned the room full of unknown faces throughout the evening. I watched as the classmates struggled to identify each other, gasping at their discoveries. I witnessed far too many stooped, overweight bodies, too many with the lights out behind their eyes, too many showing evidence they are simply shuffling through life, too many so much older than their stated years.

And yet, how invigorating to see the contrast of some of the classmates, to capture the excitement and enthusiasm in their voices, to watch them physically dance the night away to the old tunes of the 60’s. What has been different about their lives? What made the contrast so distinct?

Thousands and thousands across America just finished turning their tassels. What will the next forty years bring? What will their eyes witness forty years from now when they walk into their reunion?

What an incentive to wake up! There is so much life to be devoured, to be enjoyed! No matter your age, you’ve got a lot of living to do! It is never too late to live the life you’ve always dreamed of.

This morning I watched a presentation by Steve Manning who said that if you are on the planet, you have a life story to write. Steve said people will ask him, “What if I don’t have anything interesting to write about?” His answer? “Start doing something interesting with your life now!

What can you do today to start living? What is one thing you can do to break the monotony, to start to pull yourself up out of the rut, if you’re in one? Can you call a friend and strike up a deal to create an action plan together?

Perhaps a journey toward good health may be a place to start? It is difficult to enjoy life if you don’t feel well. The goal of my upcoming book, The Awakened Body, is to send the message, “Yes! No matter your age, you can feel alive, full of vigor and vitality!”

Jack Canfield teaches us to make a list of 101 things we want to do before we die. Why not start making that list today?  Why not then pick one of those items and begin a plan of action to make it happen?

The “Bye Bye Birdie” musical has such a powerful message for all of us:

Oh, Life’s a ball
if only you know it,
And it’s all just waiting for you.
You’re alive,
So come on and show it.
We got a lot of livin’,
Such a lot of livin,’
Got a lot of livin’ to do!

While in Athens, the words Dr. Gabhart said to me last month came back to me. We had been talking about my adrenal and thyroid lab results. I commented something like, “How in the world can this be happening?” – to which she replied, “Stress.”

Stress? I thought I was doing much better in that category. When I looked puzzled, she went on to clarify, “Not just emotional stress, stress of living in today’s environment – the stress from all the noise, toxins in our food and in our environment.” We were sitting in a Starbucks Café at the time. She said, “OK, Rosie, just freeze right now. Listen. What do you hear? Do you hear all that noise? Look at these people in here. Look how fast they are moving, talking. People 200 years ago didn’t have all that noise. They didn’t race around like we do. They didn’t breathe the air we breathe, eat the food that we eat.”

One day in Athens I was enjoying a conversation with our cab driver, a very refined, fascinating individual. Instead of our predetermined destination point, he told us of another area that we really did not want to miss. Grateful for his suggestion, I asked him to take us there.

What a beautiful area. All I had seen of Athens prior to this point was concrete on top of concrete – no greenery, just concrete buildings piled on top of each other as far as the eye could see. It was explained that the concrete was necessary because of the high earthquake area. The streets everywhere, including this location, were packed with cars and hundreds of motorcycles zooming and weaving their way along the narrowed streets. Some taxi drivers would not allow the back windows to be lowered because people are injured by extending their elbows out the window and being struck by other cars and motorcycles. I think they said there is something like 8 million people in Greece, with 4 million of them living in Athens.

The streets in this area were lined with trees, including orange trees loaded with fruit. Outdoor cafes lined all the sidewalks for blocks and blocks. It was about noon, and Dave and I were getting hungry, so we stopped and looked at the menus at each outdoor cafe that we passed. What a total surprise to find that the menu only displayed drinks – mostly a variety of coffee drinks and no food.

How can this be? It is noon. All the cafes were bursting with people. Though outside, the noise level from all the conversations were deafening. Without exception, everybody had a coffee drink of some sort, and greater than 50% were smoking. After a while we figured out that the noon time is the “coffee break” time, with lunch coming mid afternoon. No one eats the evening meal till after 7:30 in the evening, and that is way early. Many restaurants don’t even open till then.

The number of people who smoked cigarettes came as a complete shock. There are no smoking restrictions. One day we made the mistake of choosing a corner table in a pizza shop with no ventilation. Four people came in and inundated us with smoke.

On our last day in Athens, after several days of seeing everyone everywhere walking around with a tan colored ice drink in a tall clear plastic cup, I asked someone what the drink was. It is some sort of special iced coffee drink. We stopped to get one. Dave consumed most of it. I only took a couple sips because I am not a big fan of coffee. Before long he started complaining of how he felt.

A few hours later, we went to a beautiful outdoor café for lunch. I was so intrigued by the popularity of the ice cream coffee drinks, that I ordered one – against Dave’s advice. He was still reeling from his iced drink from a few hours earlier. Very sensitive to caffeine, I told him I would sip it slowly. I did – in the next 1 ½ hours I had only sipped half of it. Before long I began to feel very weird, like something bad was happening to me internally. It was a little scary. I just kept breathing deep, praying for it to go away. Oh my gosh, that coffee is strong – even though half the cup was full of ice cream! I did not sleep one wink that night. I had recently learned that caffeine stays in our system for 20 hours. I had a lot of time to reflect on that statement as I lay awake.

Just imagine what we are doing to our bodies with all the hustle and bustle, noise, and toxic substances that we consume. The more stress we experience, the more the need for stimulants to keep us going.  You are right, Dr. Gabhart. Today’s environment is very different from 200 years ago. As I cast my eyes upward to view the Acropolis and Parthenon, majestically towering over the city, I found myself repeatedly thinking, I wonder what Socrates and Plato would say if they could only see us now?

This past weekend a friend emailed me a number for a recorded call with Michael Clouse, nationally known speaker and direct sales/network marketing guru. This morning I decided to listen to the call as I took Suzie and Riley for their morning walk. I have to say, I was quite impressed with what he had to say.

The big stir was over an article that appeared last week (May 14) in the USA Today titled “Direct Sales Offer Recession-Proof Jobs.” When I returned from my walk, I pulled up the article on the internet to read it for myself. From my personal experience, I find the content to indeed be valid.

Almost five years ago I stumbled on a flyer in a health food store advertising an upcoming free program on “Discover Wellness and Natural Hormone Balancing.” A nurse for 30 years, I had never heard of “natural hormone balancing.” Long story short, that seminar changed my life, maybe saved it. It started my journey into health and wellness…and ultimately to the writing of the book I am about to publish, The Awakened Body, A Woman’s Guide to Feeling Vibrant…Naturally.

The company sponsoring the program was Arbonne International. After I conducted my own research, I called and asked to purchase the progesterone cream – but refused to sign up as a “wholesale consultant” to get a discount because I didn’t want to be tricked into anything. I proudly paid the full retail price. That purchase was to change my life. I next tried the omega 3 product and noted significant changes. I then was given an RE9 facial product sample which smoothed away my wrinkles and made me look younger. It was only at that point that I “signed up” – just to get the discount by having my own account.

I was so excited at how I felt and looked. Everyone wanted to know what I was doing. In 13 months I was a Regional Vice President in the company, having had zero experience in sales, not even liking the word. Along the way my personal research taught me that what I put on my skin is perhaps even more impactful than the benefits of the progesterone cream I was using. I learned that the skin is our largest body organ and whatever is placed on the skin rapidly makes its way into our blood stream and body organs.

I have found the integrity of the company to be impeccable. The products live up to the company’s mission of “safe, pure, beneficial.” The products are herbal and botanical, rich in healthy ingredients such as anti-oxidants, no artificial dyes or fillers, no animal byproducts, no mineral oil or petroleum byproducts, pH correct for the skin, and dermatologist tested.

I am sold on every single product the company makes, and my family and I use all of it. There is a wide variety of products: body, face, & skin care for baby, teen, and adult men & women, detox, health, wellness & anti-aging products, weight management, vitamins, & nutrition, aromatherapy, make-up, etc., etc. These are products I would normally purchase elsewhere. Now I have the satisfaction of knowing that I am using products that support my health and wellness, not detract from it.

As I was walking this morning, it occurred to me how little I have shared about these products and the business opportunity this past year as I have devoted all my time to taking writing classes and working on my manuscript. I realized how I have done people a disservice by not telling them about these products that will improve their lives – from a health and wellness perspective as well as a financial perspective.

The USA Today article and Michael Clouse’s information is absolutely right on. There are literally thousands of direct sales/network marketing companies popping up in this day of lost jobs and loss of retirement savings in the stock market. There is an incredible opportunity to generate extra income by using and sharing high quality health and wellness products with your friends and family. It is important to use the products yourself, and when you do, you will become as passionate as I am, which then makes it so easy to share with others. I feel I have the responsibility to make people aware. It is then their choice to make their own decisions.

If you would like to listen to the call by Michael Clouse, here is the number. I am not sure how long it will be available: (410) 426-6969, access code 85214473#. If I can be of assistance, feel free to contact me at rosiebrown@myarbonne.com. Have a wonderful day!  :  )