Walking, aerobics, weights – so much to pick from
Source: Beauty News
Choosing the right exercise program
Get empowered at Women’s live panel event
Active-living brand Lorna Jane is putting on a live panel event this month to talk about wellbeing, success and fitness.
The Empowering Women live panel discussions have been organised by leading Australian active-living brand Lorna Jane together with wellbeing campaigner Lizzie Horgan, who was diagnosed with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at 25 years old. Since her diagnosis, Lizzie has worked with many organisations to raise greater awareness of her condition and to help others who are also suffering to live more sustainable lives.
The panel discussion, led by wellbeing and yoga expert Robyn Silverton, will focus on four main topics:
1. The ‘Third Metric’ – a concept introducted by Arianna Huffington, which redefines the meaning of success from acquiring money and power to prioritising your wellbeing
2. Healthy striving – how loving yourself and reframing your thoughts can lead to a happier life
3. Wellness and fitness revolution and what this means for women in particular
4. How to step out of your comfort zones, overcome your insecurities and follow your dreams
Panelists at the Empowering Women discussions will include Robyn Silverton; health, fitness and luxury lifestyle journalist, Poppy Cross; Senior Lifestyle Editor at the Huffington Post, Brogan Driscoll; Editor-in-Chief of Well To Do, Lauren Armes and Founder of Ethos, Jessica Kruger.
After the event, healthy refreshments will be provided for attendees and you’ll also have the amazing chance to speak personally to each of the panellists. If you’re looking for sound advice on any of these topics, it sounds like the perfect way to spend the morning.
Top tips for aspiring female entrepreneurs
by Sarah Jones
It’s a dream held by millions – to quit the corporate world in order to set-up their own business. Offering the promise of freedom and meaning I too had this unique desire some twenty odd years ago. Starting out as a young and enthusiastic therapist I poured my heart and soul into my job and in doing so I very quickly gained a promotion to salon manager. A year or so later I felt inspired to take a leap of faith as such I quit my job and using all the experience I gained working as a salon manager I opened up my own private beauty room. It was at this point I thought I had made it, as not only had I found my purpose in life, but I was finally my own boss – however, like so many entrepreneurs my story doesn’t end here. You see with a lot of hard work, dedication and a tiny bit of luck my next big dream of owning my very own spa eventually came true. As that spa gained in popularity I decided to take another gamble and in doing so opened another spa, and then another until I had amassed 5 in total. It was at this point I remember constantly being asked what the key to me success was? Now unfortunately to this day I still don’t have a definitive answer, but I do have 9 incredibly helpful tips to share with you all today.
Love what you do – Without passion and love, I promise you there is absolutely no hope for success.
Be your own brand missionary – You are the soul of your business, as such nobody knows your brand as well as you. So my main recommend to any new entrepreneur is to become your brands own missionary – after all, it’s incredibly important to remember people connect to people.
Believe (in yourself and what you can do) – In order to get to where you eventually want to be more than anything you have to believe in yourself and your skills. You see no matter how successful of an entrepreneur you are, you are unfortunately going to experience some setbacks along the way. When they do happen and trust me they will it is the belief in yourself that will give all the strength and power you need to confront those nasty little setbacks face on.
Visualise your BIG dreams – Free of the controls of a 9-5 office job us entrepreneurs can dare to dream big, but in order to make them big dreams a reality I urge you to actively practice the art of visualisation. You see when we visualise our desired outcome, we being to ‘see’ the possibility of achieving it. And when this happens, we natural feel more motivated and prepared to go out there and purse it.
Ask for help – Learning from other’s people’s mistakes will help stop you from making them yourself, as such I suggest attending as many networking events as you can, especially during your first year of business.
Direction – If you want to be successful I highly recommend not making success your main goal. Strange advice I know but as I have discovered over the years the key is to not worry about being successful, but to instead direct your head towards being significant – in doing so I promise you success will naturally follow.
Work hard but at the same time seek balance – There is no denying if you want to be a successful entrepreneur you better be prepared to work seriously hard. That being said if you want to continue to be a successful entrepreneur you also need to seek balanced. Incorporate some uninterrupted time into your day isn’t just necessary, it is, in fact, essential not only to your business, but for your health too. For some this might be as simple as making sure to always completely stop for meals or in my case banning all forms of technology from the bedroom. After all, our brains need respite to produce exciting and innovative ideas.
Embrace and take risks – As Mark Zuckerberg rightly said, “The only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” Yes, I know to some the thought of taking a gamble is incredibly daunting, but if you don’t trust me when I say you will never know just how far your business could go.
Trust your intuition / gut feelings – My last tip is arguably the most important of all, if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Trust your intuition it very rarely lies.
Source: femalefirst.co.uk
Fertility treatments allow two-women families to reach record levels
Record numbers of lesbian couples are becoming parents through fertility treatment, official figures show. The number of two-mum families jumped by more than a third in 2012, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
The increase coincides with reforms which made it possible for gay couples to receive fertility treatment on the National Health Service. It also reflects the societal changes brought about by the introduction of civil partnerships in 2005.
Women in same sex relationships conducted 766 cycles of IVF in 2012, up 36 per cent on 2011. Similarly, the number of lesbian couples using artificial insemination to conceive was up 20 per cent on 2011, with 1,271 cycles recorded.
The increase follows several legal breakthroughs for gay couples wanting to conceive. In May 2012 new guidelines for fertility treatment made it possible for gay couples and women over 40 to receive IVF on the National Health Service. Legal changes in 2009 also meant lesbians could no longer be discriminated against for trying to produce children without a father.
Natalie Gamble, a leading fertility lawyer, said: “The law used to say that before offering treatment clinics had to consider the welfare of any child being born without a father. I’ve got two kids with my same sex partner and in 2001 to 2002 it was almost impossible to find a clinic that would do it, but we did find one in the end.
“In 2009 when the law changed it made it very clear that people should be given equal access to treatment. It also meant that lesbian couples conceiving together are both recorded as the legal parents automatically. Now with same sex marriage, everything is moving towards a more open and tolerant society.”
Gay rights campaigners said they were delighted with the figures, published less than 48 hours before same sex couples can conduct legal marriages for the first time. Ruth Hunt, acting chief executive of Stonewall, said: “Lesbian, gay and bisexual people can provide loving and stable homes for children and we’re delighted to see more and more couples realising that they can start a family of their own.”
Overall, more than 47,000 women underwent 62,000 cycles of IVF in 2012, a slight increase on the previous year. Donor insemination increased by 8.8 per cent to 4,453 cycles of treatment. The figures also showed for the first time that woman over 45 are now using donor eggs more often than their own.
An HFEA spokesman said: “The Register provides a window into not just fertility treatment per se, but it also indirectly into modern society. While it is not possible from the statistics alone to explain the rise in same-sex female couples having fertility treatment, it seems to be in keeping with the more open and accepting society that we have become over the last 20 years; especially so since 2009, when the rules around legal parenthood changed in favour of same sex couples.”
