I watched the Biggest Loser finale last night and was disappointed that my favorite, the cutie Mike Morelli, lost to the less wholesome Helen Phillips by a mere 5 pounds. Mike, who lost more than he weighs now, has hit a healthy weight of approximately 180 pounds, whereas Helen slimmed herself down to a scary 117.

While both Mike and Tara looked fabulous, Helen did not look healthy with her scrawny arms and emaciated look. She did not seem to have built up much in the way of lean muscle (judging from the shape of her arms, which were way too noticeable with their loose skin in her sleeveless dress).

Now people all over the Internet are speculating about Helen's health and methods for achieving this weight loss, and anorexia is the word being bantered about.

Sometimes we go through events in life that can be rather stressful and shocking. These can be major life events such as having an accident or losing your house, or personal events such as losing a friend.

In the "everything must be positive" brand of new age thought, such events are to be avoided at all costs. Law of Attraction people will tell you that if you have something bad happen to you in your life, that you "created" it with your negative thinking...so shame on you! Get with the program! Think more positively and life will just be a bowl of cherries without any pits in it!

This is simplistic, wishful thinking that ignores the fact that we're here as souls to experience challenges for our spiritual growth.

Sometimes when we experience an event that we perceive as negative in the outside world, it is actually a blessing in disguise.

It's kind of cool that you can write something and stir up an article in response to you. My blog post about the New Age Mind Fuck hit a nerve. So here is my response to:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13442748/Just-do-it-When-youre-ready-that-is

Interesting article. I'm glad you still like me, but I think you missed the point of the New Age Mind Fuck completely. The issue at hand is that some new agers cynically use the idea of "empowerment" to deflect responsibility from themselves and make you doubt your own perceptions and intuitions. In the case of the cheating spouse, the spouse, when confronted by the other spouse, will use new age terminology to deny their responsibility or pretend that the cheating never happened in the first place.

I'm not one of those people who believes we should run away from negativity all the time. I believe in the balance of yin and yang, positive and negative.

In starting my new 40-day meditation the other day, however, I was guided to go on a negativity diet for the next month. This means, not reading the news (unless it's really important) and staying away from negative people and situations as much as possible.

So what do I do? Within the first few days, I find myself engaging in a ridiculous conversation at a website over an email issue.

I can't tell you how many times I speak to a client on the phone about their stress, only to find out they are not exercising at all.

Exercise is probably the number one thing you can do for your well-being. Even if you can't do strenuous exercise, try doing mild exercise that works with your fitness level.

Not all exercise is equal.

I was in a yoga class with Guru Singh once, and he explained that any exercise that combines movement with the breath is exercise that is healing.

He gave as examples yoga, swimming, and bicycling. (All things I love to do!)

Qigong or tai chi are also excellent exercises that combine breath with movement.

The breath oxygenates the body and the movement improves muscle tone and cleans out physical toxins. Mindful breathing also helps reduce stress and anxiety.

I have created a home-study course in how to heal using "virtual" flower essences. No prior healing experience required. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out the course info page here:

http://virtualfloweressences.com/certifiedpractitioner

I'm not a vegan or raw foodist, but I do enjoy well-prepared raw food on occasion. My friend has given me some of her homemade raw food munchies and crackers. They are amazing! These are the types of things you get at the raw food store for $7-8 and up for a small bag. They contain greens, veggies, nuts and spices.

How does she make them? She creates veggie pulp by juicing the vegetables. She then adds nuts and spices as desired. This concoction is flattened into cracker-sized slabs and put in the food dehydrator. Voila! Healthy snack!

So instead of munching on chips, I'm munching on homemade "Kale Krisps." And then you've eaten your serving of greens for the day.

I recently met a woman who is as sweet as can be on the outside but is a broiling cauldron of seething resentment and anger on the inside. (Whereas, I'd like to somewhat facetiously say, when I'm ticked off I usually just wear it proudly on my sleeve...a good justification for that quick Aries temper!)

Her emotional blockages show up in the form of over 100 extra pounds on her frame. (And look, I know we have a weightism problem in this country, but the fact is, most people who carry lots of extra weight do so for emotional reasons, and they'd be the first to tell you that.) She's also trying to become a yoga teacher, and is mostly oblivious to the disconnect between the shoddy way she treats her body and what she says she wants to teach others.

She's so obsessed with the idea of finding her soulmate that she has a somewhat frightening suicidal idea that, without this mythological man, she might as well be dead. She's clearly depressed.