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Introduction

Our hectic lives have been made even busier by our ability to be plugged in 24/7. While having access to our global community all the time is great in many ways, it has increased the amount of time we work and the risen expectations of employers who expect their employees to be available nearly all the time. This feeling of needing to be forever accessible has increased our stress levels and caused a great deal of imbalance in our lives. It's time to take a look at how sustainable our current situation is and make the necessary changes to bring balance back into our lives.

One way of doing this is through tools such as yoga. Many companies, both large and small, have added yoga classes and meditation rooms to their benefits for employees to lower stress and create better health. They are seeing hugely positive results in doing this, and the world is taking notice.

What is Yoga?

Though yoga has gained a great deal of attention in the last few years in the West, it can easily be misunderstood. It’s much more than a work-out style. It’s a practice that connects mind and body to work together in harmony. It’s meant to be a lifestyle change that positively impacts your life, both on and off the mat.

Yoga postures or “asanas” strengthen and relax our bodies, as well as improve flexibility. The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word “yuj” which means “to unite or integrate.” The practice began in India over 5,000 years ago and is practiced around the world still today. Yoga uses postures and also breathing exercises and meditation as a way to bring awareness to the mind-body connection and to ease the tension of life in our modern world.

You may understand that yoga is great for both mind and body, but wonder about its place in the office. One reason this trend is growing is that, with more deadlines and hours at work, we rarely take the breaks our bodies and minds need to work at peak performance. Yoga offers more than the mindless break you get when surfing Facebook during a quick coffee run. It helps you refocus your attention on what’s truly important and stretches your body that’s tense and stiff from sitting for long periods hunched over a keyboard.

Corporations have found their employees are more productive, communicative and make fewer mistakes when they participate in a form of yoga during their workday. In fact, employers now know that the time they “lose” when their employees are in yoga classes within the building is more than made up for in productivity.

The benefits of yoga in the workplace are many and varied. Yoga in the office improves:

• Overall health which results in fewer missed sick days
• Creative thinking and smart decision making
• Clarity, focus, and alertness
• Work satisfaction, office morale, and positive thinking

Whether taught formally in the office or employees take a break to do some stretches and breathing, adding yoga into your workday is good for everyone. And the benefits you experience don’t stop when you complete your yoga practice. They are payoffs that you will experience in each area of your life as you continue a consistent practice.

Why Yoga?

As mentioned in the introduction, one of the most beneficial reasons yoga is used in the corporate world is because it's not only a way to get your body moving and fit. It's also a way to improve employee mental health at the same time. By offering yoga classes to workers, companies help individuals under their employ become more aware of their stress levels and give them an extremely effective tool to deal with stress when it shows up.

And, why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on workout machines and weights when yoga requires very little in the way of equipment? Even a real live instructor isn't necessary when there are cost-effective streaming and app options available. It's easy and inexpensive to get started, and there is not much maintenance involved once the program begins. Yoga is the perfect combination of movement and stress reduction for the fast-paced corporate setting.

Benefits for Employers

Why would conglomerates like Chase Manhattan Bank, GE, Nike, Apple, Harpo, and Google offer yoga classes during the day for their employees if they didn’t see a difference in productivity? They wouldn’t. But these savvy companies have looked beyond the dollar signs and recognized that improving their employees’ lives and working conditions not only shows they care about those who are loyal to them but also that by investing in their workforce ends up growing their bottom line, even though it seems counterintuitive.

Other benefits to companies who offer yoga in the workplace include:

• Decreased health care premiums
• Reduced staff turnover
• Increased productivity
• Higher job satisfaction in employees
• Reduced employee absenteeism
• More attractive company to potential employees
• Lowers number of workman comp claims
• Improves camaraderie

Benefits for Employees

We mentioned a few of the benefits to employees who take part in yoga sessions available in their workplace, but let’s consider the entire list here.

• Increases energy and vitality
• Reduces stress, anxiety, and fatigue
• Reduces muscle tension and pain
• Improves memory, mental clarity, and focus
• Improves overall health
• Reduces back, shoulder and neck pain and stiffness
• Improves immunity
• Increases morale
• Improves efficiency and motivation
• Improves muscle tone, flexibility, and posture
• Lower burn out rate
• Less aggression and hostility

Yoga in the workplace is a win-win for employers and employees alike.

Science Says Yoga Works I n the West, knowing that another culture has utilized something for a long time doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be proven effective. In this vein, modern scientific studies have been completed by numerous highlyadvanced and respected universities and organizations to see just how effective yoga is at providing the benefits yogis’ claim it does. Here’s a rundown of some of the results of such studies.

Immediately after class, studies show:

Enhanced Brain Function--After just 20 minutes of yoga flow postures, one study found enhanced cognitive function, better focus and more working memory in participants. The yoga participants even performed better in these areas than did the participants who spent the same 20 minutes doing aerobic exercise.

Lower stress levels--One study found that at least a portion of yoga’s ability to lower stress is due to its ability to lower the activity of proteins that impact inflammation in the body.

Modified Gene Expression--A Norwegian study found that at least some of the many health benefits of yoga are due to its ability to improve gene expressions in immune cells.

Improved Flexibility--A U.S.-based University found that one form of yoga, Bikram, improved shoulder, hamstring and lower back flexibility, as well as lifting strength and decreased body fat compared to a control group.

Lower Blood Pressure--It’s been discovered that after a few months of consistent yoga practice, research participants who had mild to moderate hypertension had naturally lower blood pressure levels than those who joined in a program consisting of walking, nutrition and weight counseling.

Less Chronic Neck and Back Pain--Several studies have shown that practicing Iyengar yoga, which focuses on proper alignment while practicing flow poses, provides better relief from chronic neck and back pain than standard medical treatment.

Lower Anxiety Levels--Participants of one study showed remarkable improvement in the amount of anxiety triggers they experienced after only 12 weeks of yoga. These participants had, in fact, raised their gamma-aminobutyric (GABA) levels in their brains simply by practicing

yoga consistently during this time frame. GABA has been linked with depression and anxiety disorders.

Balances Blood Sugar--By adding yoga to the typical diabetes care regimen for three months, participants with diabetes had consistently more balanced blood sugar levels, as well as decreased body mass index.

Stronger Bones--Practicing yoga long-term has been proven to build bone density in older adults who are at risk for osteoporosis.

Healthy Weight--Another research study followed people who had practiced yoga for a number of years and found they had an easier to maintain a healthy weight as they aged.

Reduces Risk of Heart Disease--Several studies have shown that those who practice yoga faithfully long-term enjoy a lower risk of heart disease due to high blood pressure, cholesterol and high blood sugar.

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Introduction

You are probably familiar with the social network Facebook, and the fact that a lot of people spend time there. Even if you are not on Facebook yourself, and odds are that you are if you are reading this, many people spend a significant amount of time socializing on Mark Zuckerberg's little corner of the World Wide Web. The actual numbers are staggering.

• As of September 2017, there were 1.37 billion active users who visited FB every day.

• There are more than 2 billion Facebook members that log on 1 or more times per month.

• Out of all the dozens of social media websites, Facebook accounts for more than 42% of all monthly social network traffic.

Those statistics tell you why, if you have a business online or off, you should definitely consider growing your brand and increasing your sales and profits by spending some time on Facebook.

One way to do that inexpensively, and even for free, is with an advertising platform called Facebook Offers. While this advertising type has been around for years, it received some upgrades and much-needed changes in 2016. Now business owners small or large, whether doing business in a brickand- mortar store, online or both, can reach prospects around the world. Facebook offers are quick and easy to set up, and you can streamline and filter them so you can laser target the exact people that are looking for what you have to offer. Since Internet citizens on social media sites are in a more laid-back and friendly mood, socializing and "hanging out," they are much easier to approach. Studies show that Facebook users either don't care about advertisements they are shown, or they have positive opinions about them.

That's right, either someone likes your Facebook offeror they won't care one way or another about it, but no one is likely to view it and have a bad taste in their mouth afterward.

Another good reason to use Facebook offers to grow your business has to do with online advertising as opposed to traditional advertising. McKinsey Global Institute points to their research, which shows, "Social media campaigns are 60% more effective than traditional advertising campaigns." This special report will show you exactly how to set up a Facebook Offer campaign, how to boost its presence, how to advertise it, and some proven techniques and tips that guarantee you have the best chance at success right out of the box, even if you have never advertised online before. Let's get started by defining exactly what a Facebook Offer is.

What Are Facebook Offers, and Why Should I Be Using Them?

If you have a business presence on Facebook already, you may have experimented with Facebook advertising methods. You may have alternately posted information about sales and upcoming product launches and releases on your business page or your personal account. It is free to post any type of update you like on your personal or business accounts, as long as you are the owner or an administrator of a page. If you announce an upcoming sale as a post on your business page, you may or may not generate interest. There is no problem with this type of advertising. It is free, you can do it as many times as you like, you can split test and tweak your post, but this type of advertising is rather limited. You simply tell your audience about an offer you have, and then they either do or do not respond. With Facebook offers, if someone on your page is interested in what you have to say, they can like, save, and/or share your offer. If you make an attractive enough discount or enticement, and someone saves your offer to check it out later, something wonderful happens.

Facebook will remind them that they saved your offer. If that person does not return to your offer and click on whatever links you provide, Facebook will make sure they continually let that person know that an expiration date is approaching. Couple a time limit with an extreme and discount or otherwise excellent value, and Facebook Offers can help you build your email list, sell products and services, and grow your brand. This is what Facebook has to say about their new Offers platform. "Offers are discounts you can share with your customers on Facebook if you're an admin or editor of a Facebook page, you can create an offer ad to encourage people to shop on your website, at your physical store, or both."

Notice that Facebook says you can offer discounts to your current customers. This is a little misleading. Even if you have no current customers, you can reach out to prospects that are looking for what you have to offer, use filtering methods to tailor your offer to just the right people, and receive an attractive return on investment regarding the time and money you spend on Facebook Offers.

The key takeaway here is that you need to provide a substantial discount or give away something free if you want to make your offer generate the most interest.

How are Facebook Offers Different Than Other Facebook Advertisement Methods?

One critical difference between Facebook Offers and other Facebook advertising types is that you don't have to spend a penny to make an offer. However, because of certain tracking methods and reminders, FB Offers can generate more interest and give you more control over the process than simply posting an update telling your followers that you have an upcoming sale or discount to offer.

Also, you may decide to create a Facebook Offer in the FB Ads Manager. This free or paid flexibility is not present with most Facebook advertising methods. Whatever aspect of your business you are trying to build, engagement, traffic, sales, or profits, you can do so for free. And if your offer starts generating some interest, you can pay to boost it or advertise it after you see whether or not it is creating the results you're looking for. Facebook Offers differ from other Facebook advertising methods because you never have to spend any money if you don't want to. They are also flexible because once you see an offer getting the job done, you can attach an advertising budget to improve your results or continue to spend no money at all.

Are "FB Offers" the Same as "FB Offer Ads"?

Facebook Offers are not the same thing as Facebook Offer Ads. A "Facebook Offer" can be launched in literally a couple of minutes from your page, and these offers require no investment, as previously mentioned. A "Facebook Offer Ad" is created through the advertisement interface. Anytime you go through the Facebook advertising system, which is called the Ads Manager, you are going to have to spend money.

The good news is that you can set a high or low budget, as a fixed amount of money per day or a set amount of money per campaign length. While FB Offers are free, it may make sense to create some FB Offer Ads through the Ads Manager after you get the hang of making offers on Facebook. That is because the tracking features available through the Ads Manager give you a lot more information than you get through free FB Offers.

Starting out though, understand that Facebook Offers are free or paid, quick and easy to make. After you run a few offers and feel confident in what you are doing, you may consider creating paid offers through the Facebook advertising network. You may also create a free offer, and then decide to boost that offer later, which is another paid alternative. The difference between the free and paid options has to do with the way you build your offer.

(NOTE: You must have a page to create a Facebook Offer, and that page must be at least 3 days old. There are other requirements as well, which are covered in chapter 4. In that chapter we will also show you how to build a page in just a couple of minutes, if you don't already own a page.)

There Are 2 Ways to Create an Offer When you are through reading this chapter, you will be able to set up a Facebook Offer. However, you are encouraged to read through this entire ebook at least one time first before jumping over to Facebook and attempting to cash in on all that free traffic. Best practices, requirements, and recommendations are mentioned in subsequent chapters that reveal all the proven, veteran moves successful companies use when they make offers on Facebook.

Your Facebook Offer creation begins one of 2 places:

1 – On your page

2 – Through the Facebook advertising platform

Building an offer through your page is the fastest and simplest way to get started. The first time you do this, you may spend no more than 10 to 30 minutes start to finish. Working through the Facebook advertising platform is more time-intensive, but there are tools available for you to streamline your offer to a very specific and focused audience. This means potentially higher click-through rates and sales, but it also means you will have to spend a little bit of money. Let's look at each of these processes in detail.

1 – Creating an Offer from Your Page

On any page you are a creator or administrator of, you will see the option to "Create an Offer" at the top of your timeline. Depending on the display on your computer or mobile device, you may have to access the "Offers" option on the left sidebar. If you don't see it there, click on the "See More" button, and a drop-down menu will expand. Then move through the following steps.

• Describe your offer. Be short and sweet. Make sure you include a substantial discount or some other reason that would make people want to claim your offer. The default expiration date will be seven days from today, but you can click on the calendar and have your offer run for less or more than a week. • Add an enticing photo or video. Make sure the photo relates to your offer. In Chapter 4 you will learn Facebook's requirements and recommendations for photo size and other visual specifics.

• Choose whether you want your offer to be redeemed Online, In-Store, or check both boxes if your offer can be redeemed at a brick-andmortar store as well as online.

• You will have an option to add a Promotional Code, as well as Terms and Conditions.

• You will see an option to Boost your offer. Skip this for now, remembering that this is a way you can attach a budget and filters to get more eyeballs on your offer.

• Click publish, and your offer is live. That is how easy it is to make a Facebook Offer from your page. It doesn't cost a penny, it takes only a few minutes, and once you have done this a couple of times, it becomes a quick and easy process.

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Illustrator Tutorials

Cropping

Why Crop?

In some cases, we want to remove a part of the picture that is unwanted or in most basic cases, we would want to resize a photo to fit a specific dimension. But how do we make the picture suit a specific size without stretching or distorting it? The answer is the MASK TOOL & DIRECT SELECTION TOOL.

The MASK TOOL in combination with the DIRECT SELECTION TOOL allows you to trim parts of an element or photo in your canvas to a desired size or dimension with a drag of the cursor. This tutorial will show you the basics of Cropping an object.

Refer to the steps below:

1. Open the photo that you want to crop by selecting FILE -> OPEN.

2. Go to the folder where your photo is located. Click on it, then press OPEN.

3. Once your photo has been opened, click on your photo.

4. Select the MASK button located at the top toolbar.

Click the MASK button.

5. Now, select the DIRECT SELECTION TOOL in the toolbox.

6. In your photo, click on the corners and drag it accordingly to crop the photo. Ideally, you can click one corner then hold the shift key while clicking another corner point, then drag it in whatever direction to have a straight crop.

7. Release the button on your mouse once satisfied with the adjustment. You have now successfully cropped your photo.

Dashed Lines

Creating and drawing Dashed Lines in Adobe Illustrator isn’t hard. In fact it is quite easy. With a few simple steps, you’ll be on your way to creating a customized dashed line. Below are the simple steps:

HOW TO CREATE A DASHED LINE IN ILLUSTRATOR

1. Open a New Document by clicking on FILE -> NEW.

2. In the NEW DOCUMENT window, supply all necessary details and values for your art board/ canvas.

3. Once done, select the LINE SEGMENT TOOL located on the left side of the Illustrator window.

4. Drag a line on your art board by hold clicking the left button on your mouse. Release the left click button when done.

5. Open the STROKE PANEL by selecting WINDOW -> STROKE.

6. Use the SELECTION TOOL and in the STROKE PANEL, adjust the STROKE WIDTH according to your preference. In this example, we are setting the width to 10pt.

7. Check the box beside DASHED LINE.

8. Supply a value in the DASH and GAP fields. Take note that the larger the value, the bigger dash and longer gap your line will have. In this example we’ve input a Dash value of 19pt and Gap value of 4pt.

9. Keep on experimenting with the values for the dash and gap until you find your desired look for your line. Supplying values in the succeeding dashes and gap fields will create a varied dash look such as the one below:

10.You can also place arrowheads on your dashed line by choosing a design from the ARROWHEADS selection of the STROKE PANEL.

11.After settling with the kind of dash and gap, you can now customize your dashed line by changing the color, width or adding more elements such as vector graphics.

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Illustrator Tutorials

Export An Artboard

So you’ve been working on multiple art boards and now you’d like to single out a certain Artboard from the rest. This tutorial will guide you when you want to export a certain Artboard and save it as a separate file or image.

See the steps below:

1. In your workspace with multiple art boards and design, identify the art board with the design or elements that you’d like to export and save separately. In this example we are going to export Artboard 2.

HOW TO EXPORT AN ARTBOARD FROM ILLUSTRATOR

2. Next is to click on the ARTBOARD tool or press “SHIFT + O” on your keyboard.

Click the ARTBOARD

Tool button.

3. After clicking on the ARTBOARD tool, select the ARTBOARD that you’d like to export. In this case, we will select ARTBOARD 2.

4. After clicking on ARTBOARD 2, select FILE -> EXPORT.

Artboard 2

5. In the EXPORT dialogue box, select the folder and supply the file name that you prefer. Make sure that you check the box beside USE ARTBOARDS and in the RANGE field, type in “2” since we are going to export ARTBOARD number 2. (If you’re exporting ARTBOARD 1, type 1. If ARTBOARD 3, type 3 and so on).

6. Finally, select the file format that you like and hit EXPORT. You’ve now successfully exported your selected art board into a single image file.

Illustrator Tutorials

Hiding Objects Outside

The Artboard

There are cases where parts of your vector images and other objects will protrude outside your artboard. For things to be neat and clean, there is an effective way to hide these unwanted extras without cutting or completely chopping them off. Below is a guide on how to hide elements that are outside the Adobe Illustrator Artboard:

1. Open the document that you want to edit by clicking FILE -> OPEN.

2. Once your file has been opened, click on the RECTANGLE TOOL.

HOW TO HIDE SOMETHING OUTSIDE AN ARTBOARD IN ILLUSTRATOR

Before

After

3. Draw a rectangle that will cover your entire artboard. Make sure you don't cover the parts that you want to hide.

4. Once you’ve placed a rectangle over your work, select everything by pressing the SELECTION TOOL and holding the left mouse button while dragging to select all objects.

5. Next is to RIGHT CLICK on the selected objects and select MAKE CLIPPING MASK.

6. All protruding elements that are outside the ARTBOARD have now been successfully hidden.

7. To see the protruding elements again, go to the LAYER PANEL and Toggle ON/OFF (button with EYE) the CLIPPING PATH layer/sublayer.

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INTRODUCTION

The world has witnessed tremendous growth in virtually all sphere of life. It owes its advancements to the great intellectuals whose succor lies in solving practical human problems. A noteworthy invention is the recent introduction of global digital currencies that uses a public ledger system for payments, investment and other forms of transactions.

These transactions are now being carried out with ease and devoid of any restrictions whatsoever. It is a revolutionary transition from the engraved metallic coin to the printed papers and now, to the reign of digital currencies. Such digital currencies include the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc. and they are categorically called cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin is blazing the trail in the world of the digital currencies. This is perhaps because it has become widely accepted by people from every facet of life. World leaders with stronger economies are beginning to see the enormous potential residing in the power of Bitcoins. Although they have their fears that decentralized cryptocurrencies may result in subverted activities with untraceable transactions, they nonetheless have also seen the minimum risk involved in using it.

Bitcoin can be issued in fractional denominations, which are Bits and the Satoshi. A bit represents the common unit used to designate a subunit of a Bitcoin. An estimated 1000000 bit is equal to 1 bitcoin. This unit is used as small denominations in the Bitcoin world. It is estimated that 1bits is equal to 0.00000100 Bitcoin and the smallest unit is the Satoshi, with 1 Satoshi equaling 0.00000001 bitcoin.

If you are new to the cryptocurrency world, there are ways to set up your Bitcoin account and make your first purchase. You could also earn it by services rendered, goods sold, and individual cloud mining, plus largescale mining pools requiring sophisticated hardware.

Setting up your Bitcoin account is simple. Some of the sites offering this service are blockchain.info, coinbase, and Xapo. All you have to do is, visit the sites, fill in the required information and create an address peculiar to that wallet.

This address will be required to have all transactions done online. There are also offline wallets often called a cold wallet. A cold wallet is relatively safer to store your Bitcoin. However, it is required that the computer is highly secured from virus and intruders that could hack away your Bitcoin.

Having purchased or earned your Bitcoin, you can invest or simply store them in your wallet. Watch out for market trends and sell your Bitcoin in exchange for fiat currency of your choice to make a profit.

I f this still sounds a bit confusing, don't worry. Just keep reading, and we'll walk you through each step of the process.

WHAT IS BITCOIN?

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency that is produced and held electronically. They are not issued as printed papers like the dollars, yen, euros, and pounds. They are increasingly being produced by people, businesses, and enterprises running computers all over the world using software that solves mathematical problems.

Bitcoin transactions are sent from persons to persons without a third party like the conventional centralized banking system. In other words, it operates on a decentralized system with no government, regulating body, company or individual having sole control over it. Hence, all transactions are peer to peer.

All transactions carried out are absolutely transparent. Copies of the electronic ledger are reserved across a distributed network of computers hosted on the web with no single point of failure. The technology behind this is Blockchain which is fast becoming well accepted worldwide.

The mining of Bitcoin is difficult, and as it stands, the demand for it is very high hence it's rapidly increasing exchange rate. It is a currency which is only less than a decade, yet it has gained more relevance than the printed fiat currencies. This is because of the value it has created in such a short time of its existence.

Bitcoin uses the acronym BTC as its unit. Bitcoin and other digital currencies like Ethereum and The-Billion-Coin also fall in the monetary category known as cryptocurrencies. They are also based on mathematical proof.

What is Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a general term used to describe digital currencies created to enable the medium of exchange using cryptography. This ensures the security of all transactions carried out as well as controls the transfers and creation of additional units. Bitcoin is the first ever decentralized cryptocurrency created.

This decentralized cryptocurrency is based on a software developer called Satoshi Nakamoto’s proposition. He proposed that an electronic payment system currency, independent of any central authority, transferable electronically with low transaction fee and ease be produced. His idea yielded results when Bitcoin was created in 2009. Today, the smallest units of Bitcoin are called the Satoshis.

Why is Bitcoin Trending – why is it so popular?

After a turbulent start of 2017, there was an increasing rise in the global cryptocurrency market and the market hit its stride in the early month of February. This increase rise gave reasons for strong optimism in the future of Bitcoin. These rises out-performed key market leaders such as S&P, DOW, etc. giving Bitcoin unusual popularity.

Bitcoin has also found an increase in its usage and value. Experts believe that it is because of the following reasons:

• It is believed to be safe and appreciative which has helped to grow its value.

• Payment methods involving high-risk fraud have drastically reduced to its barest minimum with its usage unlike those done through credit and debit cards.

• Some parts of the world where the no-VAT ruling is practiced, e.g., Europe, has also helped to increase its popularity.

• Another profound reason is its increasing acceptability all over the world for payment for goods and services via the web.

• The future of cryptocurrency is fast taking over from other online payment methods such as PayPal, credit and debit cards which has restrictions on usage. Some countries are not even allowed to use such means of online transactions.

With the popularity of Bitcoins across the globe, it is certain that the future looks bright for the digital currencies. More and more people, companies and agencies are starting to take a keen interest in this form of currency.