Keep A Breast Foundation - I Love Boobies - Art Education Awareness Action

You would do yoga but it costs too much. You would get a massage but they usually aren’t that good. You would try some deep breathing but you forget the technique. Enough excuses, geeze! Stress is seriously bad for your health and has been directly linked to breast cancer. Stress increases cortisol and this suppresses the immune system. It causes you to age faster (oh no) and wreaks havoc on the body. Sleeping, exercising, meditating are some free and easy ways to deal with stress. Did you know the majority of stress we have, is a result of how we talk to ourselves when “stuff” is happening in our lives? Maybe a subtle vocab tweak can help you lower your stress levels. Check it out.

Your teacher (or boss) loves to put you on the spot. OMG I’m totally stressed just thinking about this one. Your teacher calls on you in class and you didn’t do the reading assignment. You panic. Your blood pressure rises and your stress level immediately goes through the roof, unless…you stop. You face the facts. You admit right away when you don’t know or don’t have the answer…the pressure is relieved immediately.

You are scared shitless about the marathon you just signed up for! Maybe you are about to skydive or give a 5-minute speech. It’s all about telling yourself you can do anything. Say, “I can do this!” over and over and over again. I’m proud of your for challenging yourself and getting out of the comfort zone but this can be a major stress unless you encourage yourself and surround yourself with others who encourage you.

This super-annoying friend wants to hang out. You either do or you don’t want to hang. Instead of feeling stressed about but committing to spending more time with him/her say it, “I’m sorry” or “I’m not sure, check back with me this weekend”.

You are in another fight with your bestie. You both are strong willed. Rad. But to minimize the health risks, get your feelings out immediately. Say, “I feel” pist, sad, angry or unheard. Ongoing tension is the worst. It festers inside of you. If you are in a situation where you think, “I’m right and you’re absolutely wrong” you can shift that to “I’ve heard your side and I you have heard mine. Can we move on?”

Learning to lower your stress right away through changing how you talk to yourself will be something that takes a bit of practice but it has long-term health benefits so give it a try.

Learn more about taking care of your Heart and Soul from the Non Toxic Revolution!

Xoxo

Follow @askmissnixon

If you were to ask any of my friends or co-workers what one of my favorite things was, they would probably tell you that it’s to ask hypothetical questions. One of my go-to’s is “If you were sat at a dinner party – who would you be the most excited to sit by?” Normally people choose God,  John Lennon, the President, or most likely any random famous person. Last night though I think I met my answer.

This week, Keep A Breast traveled to San Francisco to attend the Third Annual Earth Dinner put on by the Environmental Working Group, as long time supporters, EWG has been awarded grants from Keep A Breast for their work specializing in providing useful resources (like Skin Deep and EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides™) to consumers while simultaneously pushing for national policy change. As the mingling ended and we went to our seats I began to introduce myself around the table. To my left, a man stood up and greeted me with a warm smile and introduced himself as David Baker. Mr. Baker stood before me in a double-breasted three-piece suit – and at about 6-foot-5 he stood well over me too. Instantly, I heard his southern drawl and was captivated by the feeling of his gentle handshake.

Having lived in Alabama while I was in Elementary school, I immediately recognized his accent and asked him where he was from – Anniston, Alabama – a city 90 miles from where I grew up in Huntsville. Anniston is also the city that 60 Minutes named as the “Most Toxic City in America” not even a decade ago. Anniston is a city that is so drenched in toxic, cancer-causing chemicals that instead of talking about the score of last nights game the locals talk about the number of chemicals that they have living in their blood.

Sitting across from me as a member of EWG’s Board Of Directors he shared his story as the founder of Community Against Pollution. His organization formed to help his city fight back against the chemical giant Monsanto. During a period of 36 years from 1935 to 1971, there were about five million pounds of PCBs produced and released into the area in and around Anniston. These PCB’s ended up in landfill sites and around one million pounds contaminated local waterways. With the organization’s support and alongside Johnnie Cochran, residents sued Monsanto over their health problems brought about by the company’s pollution.

From children being born with two brains to his brothers death at 17 from cancer, his stories are deeply saddening but also laced with hope. It was so inspiring to be sitting at the same table as Mr. Baker as he spoke about non only being an activist but also how he helped create change and draw attention to the crimes of a giant chemical corporation. As I listened that night to the speakers at the Earth Dinner one thing really resonated with me that I hope to take with me forever:

Although one person can’t do everything. Everyone can do something.

Thank you EWG and David Baker for sharing your stories and being an inspiration. To learn more about EWG and David Baker’s story in more detail check out The World According to Monsanto; which is also available to watch free online.

What a way to kick off the festival season of 2012! Last weekend Keep A Breast Europe was at Groezrock, a festival in Belgium where bands like Rancid , Refused, Lagwagon and Simple Plan were playing amazing shows.  We didn’t just have our Keep A Breast Traveling Education Booth with us to educate the festivalgoers all about Keep A Breast and its mission but we also had an exclusive backstage area with a masseur and hot tub. Band members from Parkway Drive, Zebrahead, Architects and Lifetime all booked massage appointments while the guys from We Are The Ocean couldn’t stay away from the hot tub. Props to Yanaika, the Keep A Breast Europe intern, for making this a truly relaxing experience for all the artists!

This year we introduced the Imagine If…Campaign for the first time at Groezrock. Not only were there many festivalgoers interested in the campaign and more than willing to pose for a picture for the Keep A Breast Europe Facebook but many of the artists playing at Groezrock dropped by the booth the support the Imagine If-campaign as well. We talked to bands like Anti-Flag, Thrice, We Are The In Crowd, Alkaline Trio, Royal Republic, MXPX All Stars and Motion City Soundtrack about their experience with cancer and we were touched by all their amazing stories. We can’t thank them enough for supporting Keep A Breast Europe!

The two days we spend at Groezrock (thankfully with great weather and just a few rain showers) with all of our volunteers/friends were truly amazing and it was great to see so many people supporting Keep A Breast Europe. We really enjoyed volunteering and helping out our good friend Lenneke who works for Keep A Breast Europe. Groezrock was a brilliant kick off for the rest of the festival season and we can’t wait for all the other festivals this summer where KABE and our friends from Macbeth will be heading to. See you all there!

Watch the video from Day 1 of Keep A Breast Europe of Groezrock below! And make sure to subscribe

XO,

Merlijn & Rawathe

Follow @keepabreasteu

Every last weekend in April, there’s a small earthquake in a small village called Meerhout (Belgium). That usually means it’s time for the annual GROEZROCK fest. This year, Keep A Breast Europe will be partnering with the Groezrock Festival in Belgium with our Traveling Education Booth on April 28th and 29th and an exclusive backstage lounge area! During the past years, this festival has grown from a small venue (cap. 400 visitors) to an international punk/hc/emo/ska/rock festival with 32,000+ visitors from Belgium, Netherlands, England, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Russia, and Italy.

GROEZROCK, by tradition offers the best punk rock, hardcore, rock, emo rock, screamo (emo), ska, or simply exceptional music of today and tomorrow. GROEZROCK has become one of the largest punk rock festivals in Europe!

Keep A Breast Europe is offering a real spa experience in their Groezrock backstage area for crew, artists and musicians! While our Travelling Education Booth will be informing the festival visitors of cancer prevention (including our Imagine If…Campaign), the backstage area will have Keep A Breast Europe ‘s relaxation heaven. It can be said that one of the main causes of disease and cancer is stress, so Keep A Breast Europe wants to help keep the performers and crew healthy with a spa that includes a jacuzzi, shiatsu massages and a space for relaxing.

Prevention is the cure!!

Follow @keepabreastEU

For the first time, Keep A Breast Europe was present at the European X Games with our Traveling Educational Booth on the X Park site. More than 125 of the best athletes of the World were in Tignes for the 3rd edition of the Winter X Games Europe! The Winter X Games Europe were in Tignes for the past 2 years. Thousands of freestyle fans came over to cheer their champions along the Slopestyle course and on the SuperPipe’s copping.

Two of our amazing ambassadors participated to the competition. Kjersti Buass finished in 4th place in snowboard – slopestyle and Anaïs Caradeux finished in 3rd place in Ski-Halfpipe. Congrats to both of them!

You can see all more photos of KAB Europe at the European X Games here.

Never forget that…PREVENTION IS THE CURE!

The external world has a strong influence on our body, our state of mind and our well being. That’s why Keep A Breast Europe has decided to help you fight these attacks and improve your way of life by providing well-being programs.

Yoga, sophrology, Bio Box… Thanks to KAB Europe you have all the tools to live a year without stress!

Have you already tried yoga?

Mathieu Bayol, ashtanga yoga teacher will give lessons every Monday and Wednesday in the Keep A Breast Europe headquarters in Bordeaux.

The ashtanga yoga is a powerful way to transform your body and your mental. It allows you to develop a useful state of mind and an inner strength to have a healthier and a more fulfilling life.

According to Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, an Indian yoga teacher: “the world around us influences our mental, which in return transforms our body. Ashtanga yoga is a dynamic and balancing activity that helps to have a strong knowledge of our body. This practice, transforms our body, influences our mental and changes our worldview”.

http://www.ashtangayogabordeaux.com/

Make your daily life sweeter thanks to sophrology!

Sophrology is a practice that lower stress and allow us to have better understanding of the problems in our everyday life.

Véronique Moisan is a sophrology teacher from Le Cap Ferret and will come every Friday to the Keep A Breast office in Bordeaux to help us discover this practice.

“My main goal in showing sophrology to a wide public is to give everyone the opportunity of making an harmonious meeting with themselves, of discovering their own capacities and their own potential. Thanks to relaxation, sophrology allows people to have another vision of their body and to stand back on the everyday life issues.”

http://www.cabinetdesophrologie.fr/biographie-veronique-moisan/

Fruits and Veggies all week!

Having a healthy way of life is closely linked with what you eat. Thanks to our partner BioBox, Keep A Breast offers you the possibility to buy quality and organic products. You can order a box of organic fruits and veggies directly on the website of BioBox and collect it every Wednesday from 3pm in our headquarters in Bordeaux. This initiative is part of the Non Toxic Revolution program which goal is to inform about the dangers of toxic chemicals in our environment and food supply.

The BioBox policy ensures that the products come from a local organic farming (at least 80% of purchases are made within 250km), and are chosen for their quality and freshness.

http://www.biobox.fr/

Enjoy !!

Monday night, Front Magazine celebrated with Keep a Breast Europe at the opening party of their Art Of FRONT exhibition, and now the arts are up for grabs.

What you see here are four FRONT cover models – Arabella, Sabine,

Mellisa Clarke and Kitty Lea – that have had their bodies cast and decorated by four different kick-ass artists – Hattie Stewart, Pete Fowler, Antony Flemming and Jack Teagle – in support of women with Breast Cancer alongside the Keep A Breast Foundation.

The Art Of FRONT continues till 25 February at The Black Heart in Camden.

Click HERE to make a bid to own your very own FRONT girl cast !!

Did you know that Keep A Breast Europe and Billabong have teamed up to develop a pro model jacket for Keep A Breast snowboarder ambassador, Anne Flore Marxer?

With every purchase of Anne Flore’s jacket, Billabong will donate $3 from the sale to Keep A Breast Europe to Benefit KAB’s educational outreach efforts!

To celebrate we have decided to partnered up with Billabong to give a few lucky winners the chance to win the Anne Flore pro model jacket, an I Love Boobies! t-shirt and bracelets by answering the following question :

Which year did Anne Flore Marxer become a Keep A Breast ambassador ?

Simply email Billabong the answer at marketing@billabong.tm.fr and you might win one of those cool products. Winners will be drawn at random. Contest ends on February 20th, 2012.

Read the legal notice in English or French here.