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Welcome to our Four-Year Anniversary Issue! We are thrilled to begin our fifth year of serving the community with educational and inspirational articles, as well as a wealth of leads for businesses that help people improve their lives in so many ways. Our advertisers make it possible for us to offer this publication to you at no charge. Please support them and let them know that Balanced Living sent you. We also continue to appreciate your feedback, so send us your comments at anytime.

We have selected an incredibly important and fascinating topic for the focus of this issue, “Wholly Fit.” In addition to touching on the physical side of fitness, we delve into the mental and emotional aspects as well. In our first cover story, “Love Your Body, Forgive Your Self,” author Laura M. Turner writes, “Regardless of how well you eat, how much you exercise or what diet you are on, if your inner life is not in order, it will be difficult for you to be at peace with yourself or your body.” She goes on to discuss the heavy issue of creating true peace within yourself. Her insightful article offers a step-by-step exercise for loving your body exactly as it is right now.

In our second cover story, “Fusion Movement: Build Core Strength, Beat Boredom and More,” Michelle Martin describes a recent craze in fitness, “A far cry from riding on a stationary bike for an hour,” she writes, “fusion movement combines moves from disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, ballet, cardio, boxing, cycling, swimming, martial arts and more.” In addition to explaining the benefits of fusion movement, Michelle illuminates the incredible connection between exercise and intelligence. She shares, “A rapidly growing movement in science shows that exercising makes people smarter – further evidence of mind-body connection.” Her article goes on to explain these fascinating findings.

Exercising your body is not the only way to improve your memory and learning abilities. Our third cover story, “Mental Fitness: Exercises for the Brain,” explains, “Not surprisingly, the same advice we follow to achieve physical fitness applies to mental fitness – use it or lose it. Just as weight repetitions in the gym or jogging strengthen certain muscle groups, mental exercises appear to strengthen and enhance cognitive functions over time.” This helpful article provides a number of easy and interesting ways to exercise your mental abilities.

Author Bryan Flournoy also provides us with helpful suggestions in his article “Tips to Maintain Your Physical Energy and Mental Alertness.” He explains, “From time to time virtually everyone experiences a lack of energy during the day. While some people alleviate this by reaching for caffeine in the morning, there are a number of other ways to support your body's ability to sustain its energy and mental alertness during normal hours of activity.” He describes how lifestyle, diet and mental attitude can support your body's functions.

With weight-related health concerns, such as diabetes and heart disease, and childhood obesity on the rise in America, it is essential to become more active (for creative suggestions, check out “Beyond the Gym” in this issue). However, it also is important to approach fitness with a healthy, well-rounded attitude. As you run, lift, stretch and push your body toward physical fitness, do not forget to pay attention to your mind and spirit, as well. As we begin our fifth year in print, we provide you with tools to empower you to live a healthier life all around.

With pride,
Balanced Living Magazine