Want To Improve Your Health and Fitness? Take a Walk!

If you are looking for a fun and simple activity that you can do to raise your overall health and fitness level, look no further than taking a daily walk. There are numerous health benefits of walking, some physical and some mental. A daily walk is easy to do, requires no special equipment or gym membership, and you will start seeing (and feeling) results right away.First of all, the health benefits of a daily walk can be seen in your physical health. Getting up and getting your body moving each day is a great way to get fit, and stay fit. This is especially true of those of us who are getting up in years.One of the biggest enemies of health for anyone, especially the elderly, is a sedentary lifestyle. For example, if you just sit around all day, your muscles will weaken, your metabolism slow down, and you will notice that you have difficulty walking or even standing for longer periods of time. Going for a daily walk is a sure way to ensure that your muscles stay active and in good shape.Taking a walk each day helps strengthen the heart and lungs and improves the body’s endurance and ability to use oxygen. When you walk, your heart works harder so it can pump oxygenated blood from the lungs to muscles and internal organs.In addition, to the benefits to the heart and lungs, you will also feel improvement in your legs and feet. Walking gives your legs and feet increased blood flow and stimulation that will relieve tension and stiffness, and enable you to walk further with less effort and pain.Although walking can provide dramatic physical health improvements, not all of the benefits are of a physical nature. Walking also improves mental health and functioning. Many people enjoy taking a daily walk to help ease their mind, and regain mental clarity.Time alone each day outside with nature is a great way to leave your cares behind and focus on positive thoughts. You can even use this time walking as a time for meditation and reflection. A good way to do this is to find a place such as a park or pathway that is quiet but not completely secluded to go for a walk every day. Stay moving for at least 20 minutes, and preferably more if possible for maximum benefits. This will be plenty of time to get your lungs and heart working, and your blood pumping to your body parts.If you haven’t yet begun taking a walk each day, what’s holding you back? I encourage you to start as soon as you’re done reading this. If you want to improve your health and fitness without joining a gym or buying fancy exercise equipment, walking is a sure way to do it. Once you commit to doing it, you will start to see and feel the health benefits of taking a daily walk before you even know it.

Digital Photography Guide – 3 Tips on How to Take Pictures Like a Pro

If you’re going to look into the history of photography, you will see that it has definitely come a long way from the first photo-etched image that was produced sometime in 1822. From pinhole cameras to point and shoot film cameras, we have now come to a point where we can capture photos easily using digital technology. Because of this, digital photography has become one of the most sought after hobbies of many people today.But just because digital photography can allow you to see your shots instantly doesn’t mean that you can consider yourself a good photographer just yet. Experience accounts for a lot in this industry, so if you want to know how you can start taking pictures like a pro, you need to find a digital photography guide that will help you out. Here are the 3 basic tips that every aspiring photographer should know.1. Composition is everything
The first thing that you need to learn about is how to compose your pictures perfectly. You need to know how you can arrange different elements in order to create a picture. Whether you’re aiming for symmetry or you’re trying to put emphasis on a specific object, it’s important for you to learn how to compose an effective image using photography.2. Don’t be afraid to look through different perspectives
Aside from composition, you should also learn how to use different perspectives when taking a picture. Since most objects that you’ll be taking pictures of are basically 3 dimensional, you need to understand that perspectives can give an object a whole different look and feel.3. Learn how to take pictures of shadows
Another thing that a good digital photography guide will be able to teach you is the proper use of shadows in pictures. Though this subject may seem one of the hardest to master, it can easily be learned, once you get used to the idea of including the shadows into your image’s composition. Shadows can make a portrait image of a human subject much more interesting and dramatic so make sure that you look up tips on how you can use it to your advantage.Now that you know just some of the basic photography tips that the pros already know about, it’s time that you look for a digital photography guide that will be able to teach you everything you need to know and more. As long as you have the right tools and a positive mindset, you’ll easily be a pro in no time.

A Perfect Party: Help Your Entertainer To Help You

As a London children’s entertainer of over 17 years experience, I’ve been to a fair few parties. How many I couldn’t possibly accurately calculate, but I’d hazard a guess that I’m probably past my thousandth party. With all this experience I’ve become acutely aware of what can make or break a children’s party, especially from the entertainer’s perspective. Ideally when hiring an entertainer, the intention is to have a fun party with as little stress as possible. This doesn’t come without some planning and the best parties come from good team work between the client and the entertainer. Communication is vital, make sure you spend some time chatting to your entertainer to make sure they know what they are doing. Personally I feel an entertainer who is willing to compromise and bend to all requests may suggest an entertainer with little or no experience. An experienced entertainer is a source of many hints and tips for making your party successful, so don’t be afraid of picking their brains. A wise client is one who listens to suggestions from the entertainer and works in conjunction with them. Good teamwork is essential for a smooth and calm party. I don’t know about you, but I like to avoid chaos at all costs.Let’s start with BALLOONS.Balloons. What party is complete without them? They provide instant festive decoration and are a party must. Right?Right. But there are also times when balloons can be the cause of party chaos.As an entertainer who wants to make sure my client’s party experience is a calm and controlled affair, I walk a tightrope of sergeant major/party-pooper. It’s a fine balance of keeping control but also not destroying the fun atmosphere. After all, fun is what a party is about. But out of control fun can soon descend into very unpleasant chaos. This is easily avoided though by taking some precautionary measures.When clients book a party with me, I suggest to them that if they are having balloons, to make sure they are kept off of the floor.Party-pooper alert? Hmm, maybe, but balloons are great fun to play with on the floor as long as there is no other planned activity going on. If you are having a free play /soft play session for your party, by all means cover the floor with balloons. They are a simple and cheap way of keeping small children busy. Combine balloons with a few bubbles and that is a party in itself. But and this is a big BUT if you have booked entertainment for the party, keep the focus on the booked entertainment. Children find it hard to focus on one thing if there are lots of other things going on at the same time and that inability to focus often leads to all-consuming chaos.Keep balloons tied up and out of reach if you don’t want loose balloons to become bouncy weapons and missiles, perfect objects to hurl into puppet booths or bash puppets/entertainers/each other with.Don’t underestimate the noise balloons can create when in a child’s grasp, the squeaking and bursting and general distraction they can cause can’t be over-emphasized.Helium balloon ‘forests’ can be a beautiful decorative feature, but make sure that the dangling string is just out of children’s reach otherwise expect a few children to take on the role of chief balloon collector and claim them all. If there is to be a puppet show, make sure helium balloons are away from the front of the stage as the constant bobbing of the balloons can completely obscure the view for the majority of the audience and also risk popping on the hot lights. On that note, do bear in mind that some children are balloon phobic especially if they happen to be autistic and sensitive to noise. Balloons can then be a very terrifying thing, unpredictable and very loud when popped. We want to minimize tears and disruption and maximize fun by thinking in advance.So to summarize:Keep ‘air’ balloons off of the floor if you are having entertainment and use them for decoration and going away gifts at the end of the party.Make sure the string of helium balloons is just above the reach of the tallest child at the party to minimize squabbles and disruption if you want to make a forest of helium balloons.Tie helium balloons firmly to the child’s wrist on departure- they have a nasty habit of flying to the moon if you don’t. ( The balloons that is, not the children!)Consider tying helium balloon to each of the chairs at the tea table. This is a great way of adding instant party pizzazz but keeps the balloons in a secure place.Be mindful of any left over latex from burst balloons, small children can easily choke. In my time as an entertainer, adults have been known to use the stretchy stuff to make makeshift caterpaults to fire at the entertainer… Hmm. Not great. Silly grown-up’s hey?