INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Choose a pastel or white dress that has a bigger skirt. The dress for this costume can vary greatly, but look for something in a classic style. You can find bonnet patterns at craft stores, or you can check your local thrift shop or child's clothing store for a bonnet that matches the dress you've chosen. To embellish your costume more, also keep an eye out for bloomers. These can go under the dress to make the costume look more old-fashioned.  You can find a small hook at a garden store or a plastic candy cane yard decoration. Once you've found the item you will use as a staff, spray paint it white or the color of your child's dress. Tie ribbons and flowers around the staff. Your child will love carrying flowing ribbons. If you don't have bloomers, add a pair of tights and some Mary Jane shoes. Give her the staff and lamb to carry.

SUMMARY: Find a pretty dress in your child's closet. Make or buy a bonnet. Find a lamb stuffed animal at a toy store. Make your child's shepherd staff. Dress your child in the dress and bonnet.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Your BMR is what you use to calculate your calorie intake. It is based on your age, height, weight, and gender. Most calorie calculators use the Harris-Benedict equation to determine how many calories you should be eating every day.  A male's BMR is usually equal to: 65 + (6.2 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years) A female's BMR is usually equal to: 655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.3 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years) Calorie calculators also factor in your level of activity. If you are very active, for example, with hard exercise almost every day of the week, you may need to consume more calories than if you lead a more sedentary lifestyle, where you do little to no activity. The five different levels of activity are:  Sedentary: You have a desk job where you sit all day long and do little to no exercise every week. Lightly active: You do light exercise such as walking or jogging short distances, or play sports about one to three days a week. Moderately active: You do moderate exercise or play sports occasionally, being around 4 or more days in a week. Very active: You do hard, intense exercise and/or playing sports is almost a daily activity for you. Extremely active: You do intense daily exercise or sports twice or more in a day, and have a physical labor job or are doing a training camp for football or another contact sport. You can put all of the above information in calorie counting tool that will estimate your required calories per day, based on your BMR, available here. Once you have your estimated calorie intake, consider how you will reduce or increase your calorie intake per day based on your fitness goals.  If you are trying to lose weight, reduce your estimated calorie intake by 500 per day. Balance your fitness plan by eating 250 calories less a day and exercising enough to burn 250 calories. For example, walking or running 2.5 miles a day. When planning your meals, cut back on portion sizes to reduce the amount of calories you consume by 250. If you are trying to gain weight, eat 500 calories more per day and limit your cardio exercises. Focus on strength training, involving free weights, to add lean muscle mass. You should also be eating at least 1 gram per pound of body weight of protein and get plenty of rest to recover from your workouts. Always start by reducing or increasing your calorie intake a little at a time, no more than 500 calories either way. This will prevent your body from going into shock and ensure you are consuming enough calories to allow your body to function.

SUMMARY: Find your basic metabolic rate (BMR). Determine how active you are on a weekly basis. Use your BMR and your fitness goals to determine your calorie intake.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: This is the correct posture for kicking into the needle and will minimize injury.  Do not transform a scorpion into a needle as the way to get into the needle position. Though it may be easier for stretching, moving from a scorpion into a needle will twist and tweak your posture and balance, making injury more likely. Going from a scorpion into a needle also takes longer and shifts your balance. This is not good when you're up in the air! Aligning your shoulders and hips is essential for elegant, energized posture in the needle. Kicking off of the ground with a strong punch sweeps your leg all the way towards the back of your head.  It can be difficult to do this motion at the beginning. If it is, try holding your leg out in front of you at a forty-five degree angle and let gravity help you to get enough momentum to kick the leg higher and higher. Once you've caught your leg, re-point foot and toe, and smile! Luckily you have two hands to catch this wild leg, so at first touch, grab on tight, expand your chest and drop your shoulders, and show them your smile! If you have more than a millisecond that you need to hold the needle, balance yourself, breathe, and relax into the position.

SUMMARY: Stand perfectly straight, with shoulders and hips aligned, facing forward. Balance your weight on your supporting leg, and engage your core muscles. Kick off the ground with other leg, foot and toe pointed as soon as it leaves the ground. Catch straightened leg with both hands. Balance yourself, breathe, and deepen your position.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Buddha writes: “Mind precedes all mental states.” This means that you must reflect on your own actions and how they affect other actions around you. Like practicing self-focusing, you should be mindful of your actions and decisions. They reflect on how others respond to you. There is an old adage of: “treat others like you want to be treated.” This golden rule can help to reverse bad karma by promoting goodness and kindness. Give compliments to people such as: “What you said about [x] was really intelligent.” or “This dinner is really good. Thanks for cooking for me!” Language can be a powerful tool. To create a positive mindset, you can practice a chant or mantra.  Try practicing a self-affirmation in front of a mirror on a daily basis. You can say something like: “I will be a more positive person today” or “I will complain less about my problems.” This will help build up your self-confidence and develop a positive routine. Chant a mantra related to your spiritualism. For example, Catholicism repeats words on a rosary. Nianfo (mindful repetition/recollection of the name of Amitābha Buddha) is an Eastern Asian Buddhist act . Whatever your religion or spirituality is, find if there is a chant or mantra that you can use to feel closer to your faith.

SUMMARY:
Be mindful. Be kind. Practice chanting a mantra.