Our Environmental Friendly Oasis

Although my career is now a karate instructor, many of you may be surprised to know that I have a Bachelor Degree in Environmental Science and worked in the field for many years.

I still have a huge interest in living an environmental friendly lifestyle. Today's post, I want to take you for a tour of some of the environmental friendly features that we added to our house.


The barrel on the right is a Cascata Rain Barrel - Terra Cotta for collecting rain run off from the roof of our house. This rain barrel collect enough to water all our gardens for about a week. We are thinking about getting a second one for another corner of the house so that we can collect enough to water our lawn too.

On the right, we planted grasses on either side of our air condition unit. The grass will grown high enough to shade the unit during the summer months and boost it's efficiency.

The above two pictures show our Earthmaker Aerobic Composter. We got this in the early spring and it's already producing high quality compost. We just throw grass clipping, yard waste, and kitchen waste in the top. After working the compost through the three chambers, it produces great compost like shown in the bottom picture. The soil looks exactly like potting soil or compost that you would purchase in the store.

This picture displays our 20-Inch Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower. I love this mower. Although it's more exercise to push, my push mower is cheaper to purchase, low maintenance, and no gas is required.

This tree, we purposefully planted at the corner of our house. Once it is full grown, this tree will provide shade on our house against the harsh afternoon sun.

We have two 4 X 4 Raised Garden Beds. These two gardens produce vegetables for us all summer long.

We planted six blueberry brushes and two cherry trees. We have tree different varieties of blueberries that bear fruit at different times so we will extend the season and not get too many berries at one time. The interesting thing about fruit trees is that they have pretty flowers at a fraction of the cost of ornamental trees

Here's a pot of herbs that we use during cooking.


Finally is a picture of our strawberry patch. Our family is fans of strawberries so we can never get enough.

I hope you enjoyed a tour of our environmental friendly oasis.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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Back to Basics

When we hit a slump or plateau in life ~they will happen~, one of the best ways to rise up and continue spiral upward is to get back to the basics.

Returning to the basics is so important because it helps re-build or change the foundation that we are build on. My teachers in the martial arts constantly talk about the importance of developing our basics and in classes, we worked the basics endlessly until it was automatic.

Five terrific ways that I use get Back to Basics.
1. 1000 punches equals one punch - This is a concept that I learned from training that can be applied to our lives. My Sensei's taught me that whether it's the first punch or the 1000th punch, we must perform 1000th punch with the same energy and enthusiasm as the first punch. The idea is not to perform one perfect technique but to repeat that one perfect technique 1000 times. Any repetitive activity in your life or career try to maintain your enthusiasm every time.

2. Beginner's mind - The beginner's mind is seeing every as if you're a beginner. By seeing old activities as new again, you will gain a new perspective that will increase performance and stimulate new ideas. Using the beginner's mind is a fantastic way to get out of the deep ruts of habit.

3. Repetition is the mother of skill - This is an Anthony Robbins saying. Practice, practice, practice. Any skill takes tons of practice to master. Try to master every skill with practice and keep an eye on making each action more and more efficient.

4. Practice makes permanent - Perfect practice makes perfect. Remember, that with every action we are creating and ingraining habits, good or bad. Be mindful of cultivating good habits and strive for perfection at every moment and action.

5. Remain present and in the moment - The more you remain present and in the moment, the more you will be open for opportunities. Don't let opportunities slip you by and keep vigilant.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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How to tie a karate belt

Here's a quick tutorial how to tie a karate belt or obi.

The karate belt knot is basically a square knot with the pattern of Right over Left then Left over Right.

When the karate belt is tied correctly, it creates a triangle on the right and an opening on the left side. The opening on the left side or heart side symbolizes the idea of having an open heart through our karate training.

Reduce the Clutter (physical and mental) in our Lives

Recently, I noticed that after 5 years at our dojo that we collected some extra clutter. My shelves on the mat had equipment that don’t use anymore. Our closed was stacked full with old inventory like kickboxing glove for a kickboxing class we canceled over a year ago. We pulled all this stuff out and sold it in our dojo at yard sale prices. For me, it was quite liberating.

It seems this clutter sort of creeps up on you – so slowly you don’t notice until one day “Bam”, you open your eyes and can believe all the stuff you collected.

Our mental baggage is similar. We can get certain destructive thought patterns and self limiting beliefs that sneak into our psyche causing clutter in our minds, but we never clear out.

The first step to clearing this mental baggage is to first become aware of it. Here’s an exercise / challenge for you to do for one week. Wear a rubber band on your wrist. Each time you have a negative thought, snap the rubber band. This exercise will increase your self awareness and let you clear your mental clutter.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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Blossoming into your higher self

The main purpose of our lives is to grow and evolve to achieve our full potential. Flowers need sunlight, water, and nutrients to blossom. To blossom as a person, we need to educate ourselves, coaching from a mentor, and take action on our life design.

Answering the following three questions direct your life towards blossoming into your higher self.

What are you reading? - Reading is one of the best forms of education. Read the books that will advance you forward on your goals.

Who do you surround yourself with? - Your friends and family have a tremendous influence on your level of success. We achieve the level of success of the people we hang out with. If you are not achieving the level of success you want out of life, make friends with like-minded success oriented people. Our adult karate program is full of success minded people.

Do you get the coaching you need? - Most people "go it alone". They are afraid to look for proper coaching they need for success. A good coach can knock years off the typical learning curve and help us identify and conquer our self-limiting beliefs. A good karate program is like an exercise program with life-coaching.

Asking yourself and evaluate your answers in these three areas should help you start to blossom towards your higher self.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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Growing Fresh Air

I found this great video about growing fresh air.


The three plants that everyone should have to grow fresh air in your house...
1. Areca Palm - "The Living Room Plant" converts CO2 to O2 during the day.
2. Mother-in-law's Tongue - "The Bedroom Plant" converts CO2 to O2 during the night.
3. Money Plant - "The Specialist Plant"

With these three plant, you can boost your indoor air quality and reduce the physical symptoms of low oxygen content like fatigue and headaches.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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Time is our greatest commodity

Do you find yourself with very little free time to enjoy with family and friends? Can you relate to the old saying that “All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy.”

I believe America has a true crisis on it’s hand – the free time crisis. We spend endless amounts of time working harder chasing after the American Dream of that bigger house, nice cars, etc. After it’s all said and done, we end up with little time to enjoy family and friends.

Time is our greatest commodity. We should carve out more time to spend with our family especially our children since they grow so fast. Karate is a great way to connect as a family and at the same time, keep in shape. By taking karate as a family, you have that priceless shared experience.

Research shows that there’s a direct correlation between happiness and spending time with family. They found that families and people who eat meals together and share activities like karate are happier than people.

When we get older, no one ever says “I wished that I worked more.” When we get older, we will wish that we spend more time with friends and family.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Lime and Cilantro

Um Um Good! These grill sweet potatoes turned out delicious.

This recipe is from Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes.

Ingredients
3 Sweet potatoes, unpeeled
1 tbsp Kosher Salt
Zest of one lime
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
Freshly Ground Pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Precook the potatoes by placing in a pot of water and boil until fork-tender. Let cool. Slice each potato lengthwise into eighths

Preheat grill to medium. Mix salt, lime zest, and cayenne in a small bowl.

Brush the potato wedges with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on all sides (including the skin) and just cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter, immediately season with the salt mixture and sprinkle with cilantro.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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90 second smile

And we are all smiling, cause it's Friday, love~
Originally uploaded by Tja'Sha ♥

Uplifting your mood can be as easy as smiling. Research shows that by faking a smile, we actually create the mood of happiest.

Billy Obenauer in his article presents a smiling challenge here.  Check out this great drill that you can do alone or together as a group. The objective is to hold a smile for 90 seconds and evaluate your mood afterwards. I don't mean a slight smile, I mean a joker size teethy smile all the way across your face.

With a group, have one person do the smile and see how it effects everyone else in the group. Notice how a smile seems to spread.

Try the 90 second smile out. What do you got to lose?
Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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L.A. Burger

Here's a great burger topped with an Avocado Relish and Watercress. The burger was so tempting that Ace jumped up on the kitchen chair hoping to get a bite.

Ingredients
Ground Beef Chuck
Monterey Jack Cheese
Tomato
Watercress
Hamburger Bun
2 Avocado
1/2 small onion
1 minced Jalapeno
Juice of 1 Lime
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper

Make Avocado Relish by mixing 2 chopped Avocado, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, cilantro, and salt and pepper.

Shape the Ground Beef Chuck into 6 ounce patties, no thicker than 3/4 thick. Make a depression in the center with your thumb so the burger won't bulge. Preheat grill to high. Brush burgers with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown and slightly charred, turning once. Add Monterey Jack Cheese for last minute of cooking.

Assemble burger by placing patty and cheese on bottom bun followed by the tomato, watercress, and avocado relish.

Sensei Tim Rosanelli
Maximum Impact Karate
(215) 249-3532
www.maximpactkarate.com
timrosanelli.blogspot.com
60situpschallenge.blogspot.com

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