One of the most simple and easily learned techniques for relaxation is Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), a widely-used procedure today that was originally developed in 1939.

The PMR procedure teaches you to relax your muscles through a two-step process. First you deliberately apply tension to certain muscle groups, and then you stop the tension and turn your attention to noticing how the muscles relax as the tension flows away. Through repetitive practice you quickly learn to recognize-and distinguish-the associated feelings of a tensed muscle and a completely relaxed muscle. With this simple knowledge, you can then induce physical muscular relaxation at the first signs of the tension that accompanies anxiety. And with physical relaxation comes mental calmness-in any situation.

Before practicing PMR, you should consult with your physician if you have a history of serious injuries, muscle spasms, or back problems, because the deliberate muscle tensing of the PMR procedure could exacerbate any of these pre-existing conditions. If you continue with this procedure against a doctor’s advice, you do so at your own risk.

There are two steps in the self-administered Progressive Muscle Relaxation procedure:

(a) deliberately tensing muscle groups, and

(b) releasing the induced tension. This two-step process will be described after you are introduced to the muscle groups.

After learning the full PMR procedure as follows, you will spend about 10 minutes a day maintaining your proficiency by practicing a shortened form of the procedure. As you practice the short procedure, you will be simultaneously learning cue-controlled relaxation.

Herbalife started as one young man’s dream more than 29 years ago. Mark Hughes was just 18 years old when his mother Joan passed away from an accidental drug overdose of prescription weight loss pills.Being a part time model and actress in L.A, Joan struggled with her weight for many years and finding a convenient and effective weight loss method as a single working mom in the late 1970′s held little alternatives other than diet pills. Diet drugs are highly addictive, have terrible side effects and make it difficult to sleep so Joan also took sleeping pills and unfortunately she had an overdose and died.This event and the situation of Mark Hughes life impacted him so profoundly that Mark decided that he would make a difference in the world by finding a safe and effective alternative to the diet drugs and pills that had killed his mom.

Mark had an interest in nutrition and particularly in Chinese Herbs. He studied these herbs and travelled to all parts of China speaking with the Chinese Herbal Doctors and discovered firsthand the incredible health benefits these herbs held on the human body. The Chinese Mark discovered had been using these herbs for thousands of years as their medicine.Despite having no medical background, never finishing high school, no business background and no money Mark managed to find some who would listen to his idea and with their help and support and 1 year of testing and refining together they formulated “Formula 1.” A meal replacement made with soy protein, vitamins and herbs. Mark wanted to help people lose weight by replacing 2 meals a day with this formula and thereby reduce calories while still getting 100% of all the nutrition the cells needed for optimum health. And “Cellular Nutrition” was born.

The word quickly spread that not only were people losing weight on this product but because their systems were being cleansed from the herbs, they started looking younger, getting more energy, blood pressure normalised and many other health benefits ensued and at the end of its first year Herbalife had sold more than US$2 million dollars.

Now armed with a whole heap of incredible health AND income testimonials the company quickly grew.
In 1981 US$10 Million
In 1982 US$52 Million
In 1983 US$148 Million
In 1984 Herbalife did US$402 Million making it the fastest growing company in US business history breaking all sorts of records and achieving remarkable things because of three very important factors.

Herbalife truly is a company gone international with distributors in 65 countries. Don’t let this figure fool you into not investigating the truths surrounding the Herbalife scam.The Herbalife scam is real and what follows is a quick summary of why you might want to avoid this company.

A) All Scams Have Their Beginnings:-Founded in 1980 by Mark Hughes (who died at the young age of 44, was an avid consumer of his own products and whose dead body was found with substantial levels of alcohol and sleeping pills), Herbalife is now over 25 years old and boasts 1.5 million distributors in 65 countries.Well, that statistic is proof that the company’s promises of unlimited earning potential and world class nutritional and supplemental products certainly grabs the attention of potential prospects. But what happens to most of these prospects once they become distributors?

B) Sucking You Dry:-It wouldn’t be right to ignore the positive attributes of the company while touting a Herbalife scam, so here are some good things:

• Low startup costs – around $108 for the standard opportunity pack, $78 or so for the mini-pack
• Minimal risks
• No experience necessary (this attribute sells a lot of people on Herbalife)

Now, the above costs are not much. However, once you become an independent distributor you will be bombarded by your sponsor to buy thousands of dollars worth of products in your first month or two under the basic premise that you’ll be in profit within only a couple of weeks due to the enormous demand for the company products, no problem.

Wrong, there is a big problem:-ccording to Herbalife corporate, the average distributor’s 2006 earnings per month was $5,100, and from what I have heard recently that figure is expected to drop for 2007. I feel that this is a decent average to report, however, let’s take a look at the following:

• Close to only 1% of Herbalife distributors are responsible for earning over 85% of the company’s wealth – that means near 99% of the company is fighting for the remaining 15% of sales that make up the billion dollar Herbalife empireThese are not the percentages you want to see when considering a multi-level marketing company. Additionally:

• Herbalife products, on average, are sold at 30% more than the very same product with the very same ingredients, only with a different name, at most nutritional stores

What does this mean? It means supply and demand go out the window and so does your invested money. Nobody is going to pay the lopsided prices the company dictates unless they are not aware of the many competitive, cheaper products out there. As a result, you won’t be making many sales.

C) The Larger Picture:-Although me and many others out there believe the Herbalife scam is real, I will admit that the compensation plan is fairly rewarding. It is rewarding for those who along with the people they sign up can sell massive volumes of product in order to make up for the small profit on each individual product.For anyone not interested in the Herbalife scam, try to find a company that rewards you for your sales immediately, without having to pass up any to your sponsor.