The benefit of hiring any type of "coach" is that they can bring a new perspective
that is personalized to your specific needs.
What to look for in a Yoga Teacher?
No matter what the subject, a good teacher can bring out the best in you. This is especially so when it comes to yoga, where the guru-shishya (teacher-student) relationship plays a vital role. For many thousands of years, yoga was transmitted from teacher to student on a one-to-one basis.
First, choose a style that suits you. Although there are many styles of yoga, the differences are usually about emphasis, such as focusing on strict alignment of the body, coordination of breath and movement, holding the postures, or the flow from one posture to another. More important than any style is the student-teacher relationship.
Assessing the abilities of a prospective yoga teacher isn’t always easy since yoga instructors are not required to be certified, though many now are. Don't be afraid to ask questions! Look for someone who has been practicing regularly for at least 3 years and who they trained with. Yoga training takes a lot of time and effort.
The continued growth and popularity of yoga in the United States has increased the need for well-trained and qualified yoga teachers assuring a safe learning environment for the practicing public. The Yoga Alliance is a group of senior yoga teachers who have answered this need by creating standards that set forth minimum, voluntary training parameters for teachers and teacher training schools. Teachers who meet these standards have a well-rounded background in the breadth and depth of yoga.
The Yoga Alliance maintains an international Yoga Teachers' Registry as well as registers yoga schools whose teacher training programs (200 hours and 500 hours training courses) meet their standards. To find a registered yoga teacher near you, try www.yogaalliance.org.
"A photographer gets people to pose for him.
A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves."
– Terri Guillemets
What to look for in a Professional Organizer?
Choosing to work with an organizing consultant is a deep commitment to yourself, to simplifying your life, and to getting organized. It's a significant investment in yourself and your ability to get the most out of life. Professional organizers don’t just provide a set of hands to assist you in rearranging stuff. We provide expertise, recommendations, and ideas on new ways of doing things. In the end, it must be your decision on which new systems and tools to put in place, but your commitment to listen to new ideas and try out new ways of doing things is what will allow you to achieve your goals and experience the rewards! To get long lasting results, you want to choose an organizer who listens to your needs and gives you options to choose from that are designed to work with your style. There is never just one right way to do things.
When looking for a professional organizer in your area, look for someone who has demonstrated commitment to their own learning and professional development by joining a professional association. Professional associations provide training and guidance to help organizers give you the best possible service. Check out www.onlineorganizer.com , www.napo.net or www.nsgcd.org to find a dedicated professional organizer near you.
If you are not ready to work with a professional organizer, you can get started yourself with some of the resources below:
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"Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything - whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out."
– Tina Turner
Too much solicitation?
One of the most effective ways to get rid of paper clutter is to stop it before it gets in the front door. www.PrivacyRights.org has a ton of fact sheets available with reliable information for reducing junk mail, understanding how you got on the mailing lists in the first place, and more importantly how to get your name off and stay off! How To Tips Sheet: www.PrivacyRights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm
• Junk Mail - Junk mail wastes an incredible amount of natural resources as well as your valuable time. Stop unwanted catalogs and
junk mail with www.41pounds.org, www.stopthejunkmail.com, www.myjunktree.com, http://privacycouncil.org/about/ or
• Catalogs - Call and cancel all unwanted catalogs (you will need the customer number and source code on the back of the
catalog.) When canceling, request that they not sell your name! This will decrease the number of catalogs you will receive in
the future. Or go to www.catalogchoice.org, a free service that helps you unsubscribe from hundreds of catalogs.
• Phone Books - 540 million unsolicited phone books are delivered across the U.S. every year using 19 million tress, 1.6 billion
pounds of paper and 7.2 million barrels of oil. To eliminate unwanted phone books, consider signing up at
delivery of white and yellow pages.
• Credit Card Offers - By registering with www.optoutprescreen.com/opt_form.cgi, your name will be removed from unsolicited
credit card and insurance offers, cutting down on unwanted mail and clutter.
• Marketing Mailing Lists - By registering with Direct Mail Association's Mail Preference Service, your name will be removed from
the majority of direct mail lists. www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing.
• Phone Solicitation - Get your name removed from unwanted telemarketers by adding your name to the "Do Not Call" list,
www.donotcall.gov. Don't forget to add your cell phone too!
• Political Phone Solicitation - Relief for those who want to be left alone, courtesy of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry,
• Other Junk - Self defense against privacy invading marketing such as telemarketing, spam, junk mail, and web ads.
What to keep?
With statements and receipts piling up from banks, investments, and the government, it's often not clear which documents to keep and for how long. In the absence of direction, many people keep everything! The following websites offer some excellent guidelines on what to keep, where, and for how long. (These websites are recommended only as a guideline. For specific advice, please consult your attorney or accountant.)
Want to digitize insurance information as well are receipts?
• Organize your belongings with www.anywherevault.com/index.aspx
• Toss your paper receipts and computerize them with www.neatreceipts.com
Identity Theft
Check your bank and credit card statements diligently every month to make sure all the charges are accurate. NEVER give out personal information or your social security number.
• Protect yourself from identity theft and always destroy confidential materials that contains personal or account information. A
small shredder can be purchased for as little as $15 and can save you a lot of headaches.
• If you are purging years of documents, consider www.infoshred.com to help you dispose of the information securely. They will
come to your home with a mobile industrial sized shredder and destroy the items in front of you!
• Reviewing your credit report frequently is an important tool in being vigilant against identity theft. Under the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act, consumers can obtain a FREE credit report once every 12 months from each of the 3 consumer credit reporting
companies - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Instead of getting all 3 at once, get a different once each quarter. This ensures that
there have been no changes throughout the year. www.annualcreditreport.com.
• What to do if you are the victim of identity theft, www.ricedelman.com/cs/education/article?articleId=157
• For real peace of mind, prevent your identity from being stolen before it happens, www.lifelock.com
Reduce, Reuse, Recyle
When you know you can donate your items to a good cause, it makes the process of letting go easier.
• Green Info on the Go - Tired of wading through websites and blogs trying to locate information to answer your question? You'll
appreciate www.GreenYour.com
• How to Recycle Everything - Discover how to recycle everything from packing peanuts to your wedding dress, turn medicine
bottles into life jackets or running shoes into playgrounds. Just use the scroll down guide at the top of the page and click "submit".
• Recycling / ReUse Centers - Local information on recycling and ways to make a difference. www.earth911.org
• Electronics, Etc. - Recycle your old CDs and DVDs at www.cdrecyclingcenter.com. To recycle your Ipod, go to
www.apple.com/environment/recycling/ipodrecycling. Need to unload your Cell Phone, PDA, or accessories? Try
• Computer Hardware - It's important to wipe your computer hard drives according to the Department of Defense standards
so your information is not stolen. You might want to hire a computer professional to wipe it for you. Any equipment that is too
old to donate, can be donated to local schools, churches or non-profit organizations or recycled through www.hp.com/recycle or
your local Staples office store will recycle it for you. You can also donate your computer to the National Cristina Foundation at
www.cristina.org. They will pick up the equipment for a minimal fee (to cover pick-up and recycling costs) and recycle it! And
finally, try www.myboneyard.com.
• Printer Cartridges - 90% of all cartridges are recyclable yet only 20% are reused, leaving about 300 million at the landfill! Buy
recycled, refilled toner and ink cartridges and return the units to the store's drop-off spot on the same trip (Cartridge World, OfficeMax,
Walgreens, etc.). For brand compatible cartridge models, visit www.PlanetGreenInk-Jets.com.
• Recycle your Yoga Mat - Keep your old yoga mats out of the landfill and help "upcycle" them into other products.
• Expired Coupons - Did you know that expired coupons can be sent to troops stationed overseas? They can use them for 6 months
after the expiration date. It's 100% legal and each overseas base has a USA address so it is a local mailing. Go to
www.ocpnet.org and get the details. How redeeming!• Textbooks - Sell back gently used books at www.cash4book.net.
Enter the ISBN number and they tell you what they will pay.
If interested, they will pay the shipping.
• Business Attire - Help low-income women transition back into the workforce by donating your business attire.
• Wedding or Bridesmaid Dresses - Dresses are turned into beautiful burial garments for babies and are given to hospitals for the
grieving families to wrap their baby in. www.heavenlyanglesinneed.com
• Fleece - Donate any brand fleece jackets made from Polartec and Capilene to be melted and made into clothes.
• New toys, books & games - Furnish the playrooms of a Ronald McDonald House. www.rmhc.org
• Running Shoes - Reuse-a-shoe accepts worn out athletic shoes of any brand which are recycled into sports surfaces for youth
around the world. www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe or www.nike.com/nikebiz/nikebiz.jhtml?page=26&cat=reuseashoe
• Sports Gear - Kids will be thrilled to hit the playground with your old rejects. Find a nearby school to review teacher & coaches wish
lists www.iloveschools.com, gather up your baseballs and basketballs to go to Third World countries www.nays.org, or mail this
non-profit company your loot www.sportsgift.org.
• Eye Glasses - Drop off old glasses or sunglasses to lenscrafters and they'll make them good as new and deliver then to those in
need around the world through the Gift of Sight program. www.lenscrafters.com
• Fluorescent Bulbs - While fluorescent light bulbs save energy, improper disposal of them creates a hazard. Instead of saving them
for until your local hazardous waste day, you can drop them off at the service desk of your local Home Depot.
• Old Linens - Drop off sheets, towels, pillows, blankets, and comforters for animal bedding to www.aspca.org
• Cars, Boats, RVs - Consider a tax-deductible donation to Purple Heart and support our troops at www.purpleheartcars.org or
Heritage for the Blind at www.hftb.org. Both will come pick up your vehicle.
• Building Materials - Check with your local Habitat for Humanity re-store. www.habitat.org/env/restores.aspx
• Garage Sale Tips - This website has some good tips to clean, organize and sell your stuff. www.betidy.com/tidytips.html
• Junk Removal - Finally ready to clean out your attic, garage, or basement but daunted by the idea of what to do with the
discards? www.800gotjunk.com will unload and dispose of your unwanted stuff. They'll even sweep up afterwards!
Send Your Clutter to...
• The Troops - Check out the list of things the military could use. www.give2thetopps.org/items.htm
• Goodwill - Find a local Goodwill store and find out how to donate. www.goodwill.org/page/guest/about
• The Salvation Army - Pick up may be available for clothing and furniture. www.salvationarmy.org
• Freecycle - With more than 4 million members posting messages, this is the place to go if you want to unload clutter quickly. Post
what your selling, goes to the first responder, leave on your front porch, and its gone! www.freecycle.org
• Craig's List - Free online classified ads. Look here if you want to sell or donate items. www.cragslist.org/about/sites.html
• Resellers - There are a lot of great resellers who will provide their expertise and help you sell your goods. They keep a percent of the
proceeds but you don't have any of the hassles. Try www.ebay.com, www.ISoldIt.com, www.AuctionDrop.com, or
www.Portero.com. And www.swapthing.com lets users swap, buy and sell the stuff they don't want for stuff they do.
Don't Agonize...Organize!
Never go to a store or make a purchase on-line without measuring first! Make sure your organizers fit the space.
• Container Store - An excellent source for both ideas and shopping, www.containerstore.com
• Ikea - A great solution for storage at reasonable prices, www.ikea.com/ms/en_us
• The Storage Store - Another source for home organization products, www.thestoragestore.com
• The Organized Lifestyle - For those who don't know what products are out there, this will help you organize your home,
• Stacks and Stacks - Over 20,000 practical, stylish and affordable products for your home, office, garden and automobile,
• Organize.com - Thousands of products to organize your home, office and business.
• Paper Files - Awesome self purging filing system from www.freedomfiler.com/home.cfm?CFID=109583&CFTOKEN=90786659
• Photo & Memorabilia Management - Full-service memory celebration company for paper and digital photos, memorabilia, digital
organization, as well as framing "wall worthy" pieces, www.mycmsite.com/karenpierce
• See Jane Work - For fun and funky items for the office, www.seejanework.com
Go Green!
Are you doing your part to help the environment?
• Green Your Life - Explore resources for simplicity at www.simpleliving.net and www.newdream.org. Calculate your
carbon footbprint at www.earthday.net.
• Green Power - 37 states offer green energy but you may not know if your power company is one of them. Visit
www.eere.energy.gov/greenpower. Buy carbon offsets to finance renewable-energy projects at www.nativeenergy.com.
• Earth Friendly Energy - To find out more about solar electricity try www.mercurysolarsystems.com, www.solarenergy.org,
or www.sebane.org. Explore wind energy alternatives at www.awea.org. For more info on rebates and tax breaks, go to
the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy at www.dsireusa.org.
• Sustainable & Ethical Investing - Explore how to Socially Respondible Investing (SRI) to achieve financial freedom while insisting
on "raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace." (Mother Teresa) Try out these sites www.socialinvest.org,
• Green Plug - Donate all those cable cords and chargers! The Green Plus is an universal, energy-efficient plug for DC-powered
devices including cell phones, PDAs, laptops, printers, digital cameras, camcorders, cordless, drills, MP3 players, and dozens of
common devices that require individual chargers. Plus the charging base/hub will power down when not in use saving electricity.
• Sustainable Food - Find locally produced organic and sustainable food by entering you zip code. www.eatwellguide.org or
search www.localharvest.org for farmers' markets, green grocers and food co-ops in your area.
• Natural Beauty Products - Look up any questionable claims on www.greenerchoices.org
• Environmental News - "Gloom and Doom with a sense of humor" www.grist.org. Other excellent new sources are
www.enn.com and www.ens-newswire.com. Read the consumer's guide to the green revolution at www.thedailygreen.com
or National Geographic's online source www.thegreenguide.com for green living tips, produce reviews and environmental health
news.
• One Stop Shop - For green news, solutions and product information, try the green blog www.treehugger.com which excels at
tapping into trends in environmental thinking, www.idealbite.com a blog-style site offering up "bit-sized ideas for light green living,
Other Sites of Interest
• Are you a Hoarder? - Put your clutter in perspective...there may be people who are worse than you!
• Book Lovers - If you're an avid read, simple create a list of books you want to read at www.paperspine.com, get them in the mail,
keep the books as long as you want, then return the books to receive more on your list. Nearly 200,000 titles starting at $9.95 a
month.
• Conserve Cash - This handy money site will reveal how much you spend on different categories after you allow access to your bank
and credit card transactions and balances. The colored graphics will help you create a budget and learn that fiscal restraing can be
fun! www.mint.com
• Shrink Bills - Maximize cell phone minutes and credit card rewards. www.billshrink.com
• Forgetting Special Events? - Never forget another birthday, anniversary or special event. www.sendoutcards.com will print and
mail REAL cards for you. Choose from thousands of cards, use your own handwriting font, and add a personal message or
signature all for $0.98 a card plus postage. Perfect for personal and business use. Check it out!
• Redefine Christmas - Imagine if there was more charity and less materialism in Christmas giving. Change the way you give and
receive gifts at http://www.redefine-christmas.org/
• Federal Spending - See where your federal money is going. www.usaspending.gov
Acts of Kindness
• For Wounded Soldiers - Send a handwritten postcard for them to read upon arrival at the U.S. Military Hospital in Landstuhl,
Germany. Mail yours to 21st TSC, Medical Transient Detachment, Attn: Soldier's Angels, Unit 23203, APO AE 09263.
• For the Planet - Save landfill space by recycling used library, membership and gift cards instead of throwing them away. Send them
to Earthworks System, c/o Halperin Industries, 25840 Miles Road, Bedford, OH 44146.
• For Sick Kids - Comfort them with DVDs when they're undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments in pediatric hospitals. Send
movies to KidFlicks/Barta, 11755 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA 90025.
Inspiration
• Daily OM - Sign up for a daily dose of inspiration that will nurture your body, mind and soul, www.dailyom.com
• Self Growth - SelfGrowth.com is the most complete guide to information about Self -Improvement, Personal Growth and Self
Help on the Internet. It is designed to be an organized directory, with articles and references to thousands of other Web Sites on
the World Wide Web.
• Do Nice Things - Every Monday, get ideas for doing good deeds and read inspirational profiles about people who do them.
www.doonenicething.com. Recent studies show that giving to others releases oxytocin, the "feel good" hormone.
RESOURCES & LINKS
For More Information Contact:
Karen Pierce * karenJpierce@earthlink.net * (203) 470-6969
Newtown, Connecticut
www.InnerSpacesbyKaren.com
