Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and Love is All there is.
- Gary Zukav
December 27, 2010
September 11, 2010
10 Grateful Steps to Happiness
Here are Dr Robert Emmons' top 10 tips for actually becoming more grateful, and consequently more happy.
1. Keep a gratitude journal
Sit down, daily, and write about the things for which you are grateful. Start with whatever springs to mind and work from there. Try not to write the same thing every day but explore your gratefulness.
2. Remember the bad
The way things are now may seem better in the light of bad memories. Don't forget the bad things that have happened, the contrast may encourage gratefulness.
3. Ask yourself three questions
Choose someone you know, then first consider what you have received from them, second what you have given to them and thirdly what trouble you have caused them. This may lead to discovering you owe others more than you thought.
4. Pray
Whether you are Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or atheist, a ritualised form of giving thanks may help increase gratitude.
5. Use your senses
80% of people say they are thankful for their health. If so, then get back in touch with the simple human fact of being able to sense what is out there: use your vision, touch, taste and smell to experience the world, and be thankful you can.
6. Use visual reminders
Two big obstacles to being grateful are simply forgetting and failing to be mindful. So leave a note of some kind reminding you to be grateful. It could be a post-it, an object in your home or another person to nudge you occasionally.
7. Swear an oath to be more grateful
Promise on whatever you hold holy that you'll be more grateful. Sounds crazy? There's a study to show it works.
8. Think grateful thoughts
Called 'automatic thoughts' or self-talk in cognitive therapy, these are the habitual things we say to ourselves all day long. What if you said to yourself: "My life is a gift" all day long? Too cheesy? OK, what about: "Every day is a surprise".
9. Acting grateful is being grateful
Say thank you, become more grateful. It's that simple.
10. Be grateful to your enemies?
It'll take a big creative leap to be thankful to the people who you most despise. But big creative leaps are just the kind of things likely to set off a change in yourself. Give it a try.
1. Keep a gratitude journal
Sit down, daily, and write about the things for which you are grateful. Start with whatever springs to mind and work from there. Try not to write the same thing every day but explore your gratefulness.
2. Remember the bad
The way things are now may seem better in the light of bad memories. Don't forget the bad things that have happened, the contrast may encourage gratefulness.
3. Ask yourself three questions
Choose someone you know, then first consider what you have received from them, second what you have given to them and thirdly what trouble you have caused them. This may lead to discovering you owe others more than you thought.
4. Pray
Whether you are Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or atheist, a ritualised form of giving thanks may help increase gratitude.
5. Use your senses
80% of people say they are thankful for their health. If so, then get back in touch with the simple human fact of being able to sense what is out there: use your vision, touch, taste and smell to experience the world, and be thankful you can.
6. Use visual reminders
Two big obstacles to being grateful are simply forgetting and failing to be mindful. So leave a note of some kind reminding you to be grateful. It could be a post-it, an object in your home or another person to nudge you occasionally.
7. Swear an oath to be more grateful
Promise on whatever you hold holy that you'll be more grateful. Sounds crazy? There's a study to show it works.
8. Think grateful thoughts
Called 'automatic thoughts' or self-talk in cognitive therapy, these are the habitual things we say to ourselves all day long. What if you said to yourself: "My life is a gift" all day long? Too cheesy? OK, what about: "Every day is a surprise".
9. Acting grateful is being grateful
Say thank you, become more grateful. It's that simple.
10. Be grateful to your enemies?
It'll take a big creative leap to be thankful to the people who you most despise. But big creative leaps are just the kind of things likely to set off a change in yourself. Give it a try.
Happiness
What is Happiness?
Because happiness is something most of us aim for, how we define it has important implications for how we conduct our lives. To see why, compare these two competing definitions of happiness:
1. Happiness is all about minimising pain and maximising pleasure.
The underlying idea here is that there is a kind of mathematics of happiness. Imagine if on our deathbeds we were able to add up all the moments of pleasure in our lives and then all the moments of pain. The amount by which the pleasures exceeded the pains would tell us how happy we were during our lives.
2. Happiness is satisfaction with life as a whole.
On the surface this looks like the same idea but actually it's completely different. Consider the case of Clea Koff, a forensic anthropologist who spent nine years working in Rwanda, digging up the remains of people killed in the 1994 genocide (Bergsma, In press). While this was clearly a gruesome task that would have given most people nightmares, afterwards she explained that the work was meaningful, which made it worthwhile. For Koff, then, happiness was satisfaction that she had done the right thing with her life.
Pleasure and pain
The first definition of happiness is perhaps the one most associated with hedonism, and one that is implicitly accepted by many people. But I think the second definition is much better because it makes room for the idea that we give meaning to the things we do.
Happiness is not just a headlong charge towards whatever makes us feel pleasure, it is about finding satisfaction in ourselves and in what we have done. Even when what we have done has been painful, like Clea Koff's work.
References
Bergsma, A. (In press) The advice of the wise. Introduction to the special issue on advice for a happy life. Journal of Happiness Studies.
Because happiness is something most of us aim for, how we define it has important implications for how we conduct our lives. To see why, compare these two competing definitions of happiness:
1. Happiness is all about minimising pain and maximising pleasure.
The underlying idea here is that there is a kind of mathematics of happiness. Imagine if on our deathbeds we were able to add up all the moments of pleasure in our lives and then all the moments of pain. The amount by which the pleasures exceeded the pains would tell us how happy we were during our lives.
2. Happiness is satisfaction with life as a whole.
On the surface this looks like the same idea but actually it's completely different. Consider the case of Clea Koff, a forensic anthropologist who spent nine years working in Rwanda, digging up the remains of people killed in the 1994 genocide (Bergsma, In press). While this was clearly a gruesome task that would have given most people nightmares, afterwards she explained that the work was meaningful, which made it worthwhile. For Koff, then, happiness was satisfaction that she had done the right thing with her life.
Pleasure and pain
The first definition of happiness is perhaps the one most associated with hedonism, and one that is implicitly accepted by many people. But I think the second definition is much better because it makes room for the idea that we give meaning to the things we do.
Happiness is not just a headlong charge towards whatever makes us feel pleasure, it is about finding satisfaction in ourselves and in what we have done. Even when what we have done has been painful, like Clea Koff's work.
References
Bergsma, A. (In press) The advice of the wise. Introduction to the special issue on advice for a happy life. Journal of Happiness Studies.
September 01, 2010
Energy Medicine The Scientific Basis by James L. Oschman
The electric and magnetic fields generated by tissues, organs, and even
pathologies are not only useful for diagnosis, but also are part of the body's mechanism for communicating with itself and its environment. Each heartbeat,
breath, or emotion generates characteristic electromagnetic fields that travel through the living matrix to remote cells and tissues. While every organ and
tissue contributes, the heart produces the strongest electrical and magnetic activity. Even muscle contractions produce magnetic pulses. The system distributes the heart electricity throughout the body, primarily through the circulatory system, which is a good conductor by virtue of its salinity. The electricity-generating mechanisms discussed include piezoelectricity and the streaming potential. These electrical disturbances, and their harmonics, are broadcast throughout the body. However, much of the focus of Energy Medicine is on biomagnetic fields, which (in contrast with bioelectric fields) are not significantly attenuated as they pass through body tissues.
An additional point discussed in depth is the extracellular matrix or connective tissue, in which cells are embedded. Observing that diffusion processes are too
slow to account for the rapid and subtle aspects of life processes, Oschman
refutes the "bag model," in which molecular reactants in the enzymatic pathways
move, meet, and react randomly. Instead, he maintains, the cell is filled with filaments, tubules, fibers, and trabeculae, collectively called the cytoplasmic matrix or cytoskeleton, a network extending even to the genome. Many of the
enzymes once thought to be floating in the "soup" are actually attached to
structures within the cell nucleus. This provides an assembly line arrangement
along which reaction sequences can proceed rapidly. Furthermore, it serves as a piezoelectric solid state communication system, enabling each cell, organ, or
tissue to adjust its activities in relation to what other parts of the body are
doing and thereby coordinating activities such as repair and defense as well as movement of nutrients, hormones, and toxins. The cellular matrix is connected,
across the cell surface, with the extracellular matrix.
Oschman extends his energy concepts to the release of physical and emotional trauma stored in the body. Accumulated trauma impairs the connections through the extracellular matrix. Then the body's defense and repair systems become impaired, and disease can result. The trauma of an event is set in place virtually instantaneously, bypassing one's self-awareness. As a result, certain behaviors can become addictive and repetitive, and one interprets experiences in terms of other experiences early in life. Through brainwaves, the energy regulatory systems continue to scan the section of stored energy, and the conventional Jungian or Freudian therapies do not consistently alter the basic patterns. Building upon the insights of Redpath, Brown, and Freeman, Oschman proposes that the trauma can be released by corrective energy flow, perhaps at the pre-verbal level since the trauma energy signatures lie outside the thought and speech centers of the brain. To this end, Oschman suggests that the traumatic aspects of personality structure are so approachable when the electromagnetic rhythms of the therapist and client are entrained to form a single collectively coherent pulse. He also notes that therapeutic massage does more than increase the circulation in sore muscles. A holographic model of memory is consistent with the "somatic recall" phenomenon, in which application of pressure to a particular area releases a vivid recollection of a traumatic experience.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
pathologies are not only useful for diagnosis, but also are part of the body's mechanism for communicating with itself and its environment. Each heartbeat,
breath, or emotion generates characteristic electromagnetic fields that travel through the living matrix to remote cells and tissues. While every organ and
tissue contributes, the heart produces the strongest electrical and magnetic activity. Even muscle contractions produce magnetic pulses. The system distributes the heart electricity throughout the body, primarily through the circulatory system, which is a good conductor by virtue of its salinity. The electricity-generating mechanisms discussed include piezoelectricity and the streaming potential. These electrical disturbances, and their harmonics, are broadcast throughout the body. However, much of the focus of Energy Medicine is on biomagnetic fields, which (in contrast with bioelectric fields) are not significantly attenuated as they pass through body tissues.
An additional point discussed in depth is the extracellular matrix or connective tissue, in which cells are embedded. Observing that diffusion processes are too
slow to account for the rapid and subtle aspects of life processes, Oschman
refutes the "bag model," in which molecular reactants in the enzymatic pathways
move, meet, and react randomly. Instead, he maintains, the cell is filled with filaments, tubules, fibers, and trabeculae, collectively called the cytoplasmic matrix or cytoskeleton, a network extending even to the genome. Many of the
enzymes once thought to be floating in the "soup" are actually attached to
structures within the cell nucleus. This provides an assembly line arrangement
along which reaction sequences can proceed rapidly. Furthermore, it serves as a piezoelectric solid state communication system, enabling each cell, organ, or
tissue to adjust its activities in relation to what other parts of the body are
doing and thereby coordinating activities such as repair and defense as well as movement of nutrients, hormones, and toxins. The cellular matrix is connected,
across the cell surface, with the extracellular matrix.
Oschman extends his energy concepts to the release of physical and emotional trauma stored in the body. Accumulated trauma impairs the connections through the extracellular matrix. Then the body's defense and repair systems become impaired, and disease can result. The trauma of an event is set in place virtually instantaneously, bypassing one's self-awareness. As a result, certain behaviors can become addictive and repetitive, and one interprets experiences in terms of other experiences early in life. Through brainwaves, the energy regulatory systems continue to scan the section of stored energy, and the conventional Jungian or Freudian therapies do not consistently alter the basic patterns. Building upon the insights of Redpath, Brown, and Freeman, Oschman proposes that the trauma can be released by corrective energy flow, perhaps at the pre-verbal level since the trauma energy signatures lie outside the thought and speech centers of the brain. To this end, Oschman suggests that the traumatic aspects of personality structure are so approachable when the electromagnetic rhythms of the therapist and client are entrained to form a single collectively coherent pulse. He also notes that therapeutic massage does more than increase the circulation in sore muscles. A holographic model of memory is consistent with the "somatic recall" phenomenon, in which application of pressure to a particular area releases a vivid recollection of a traumatic experience.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis (2) by Weisberg, Mark B.
As in other paradigm-changing scientific fields, mind-body medicine has been attempting to move from magic and intuition to scientific understanding, to
elucidate the mechanisms by which psychophysiologic phenomena manifest.
The work of Dr. Robert Ader (1995), Dr. Candace Pert (1999) and others helped to define the emerging field of psychoneuroimmunology. Some of the data from this area of inquiry has helped clinicians and researchers in being able to understand and articulate the neurophysiologic building blocks of mind-body change.
In recent years there has been growing interest in the "magic" of energy phenomena and their impact on illness and healing.
There is a small but growing literature documenting how research in biology, chemistry and physics can be applied to human energetic systems in ways that impact both traditional and complimentary treatment approaches.
Interest in energy has grown in the hypnosis community as well. Recent years have shown increased interest in workshops exploring the integration of hypnosis with EMDR, acupuncture, and other related modalities.
At the 2002 ASCH Annual Conference, Dr. Daniel Brown presented a fascinating synthesis of research findings pertaining to hypnosis and energy medicine.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
elucidate the mechanisms by which psychophysiologic phenomena manifest.
The work of Dr. Robert Ader (1995), Dr. Candace Pert (1999) and others helped to define the emerging field of psychoneuroimmunology. Some of the data from this area of inquiry has helped clinicians and researchers in being able to understand and articulate the neurophysiologic building blocks of mind-body change.
In recent years there has been growing interest in the "magic" of energy phenomena and their impact on illness and healing.
There is a small but growing literature documenting how research in biology, chemistry and physics can be applied to human energetic systems in ways that impact both traditional and complimentary treatment approaches.
Interest in energy has grown in the hypnosis community as well. Recent years have shown increased interest in workshops exploring the integration of hypnosis with EMDR, acupuncture, and other related modalities.
At the 2002 ASCH Annual Conference, Dr. Daniel Brown presented a fascinating synthesis of research findings pertaining to hypnosis and energy medicine.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
August 28, 2010
Cutting the ties that bind
We all create cords to people we have had relationships with or associations
or interactions with. The cords are energy ties to certain areas of our energy
bodies depending on the kind of interactions we had: for instance, control
energy – fear energy – power energy. Some cords are contracts with people that
have agreed to help us work through our lessons in life. We need to recognize
these, ask what it is there for, why we are connected to this person, what we
have to learn from them and what they have to learn from us.
Cords can be cut using the “Cutting the Ties That Bind” exercise, an exercise
created by Phyllis Krystal to remove the energy of unhealthy relationships from
your auric field. Visualize an infinity sign with the inner circles colored white
and the outer circles colored violet – violet is transformation and white is new beginning. Imagine you are standing in one side of the figure eight and the person you want to let go of is standing in the other side. Then imagine you are having
a conversation and you are telling this person how much he or she has helped
you to learn a valuable lesson in your life, how much you appreciate the experience.
See the cords that connect you to this person.
Then using a pair of golden scissors cut the energy cords you have built between
you, making sure that the cords are healed and sealed. Visualize these cords being cut – actually feel the golden scissors cutting into them and separation taking place. Even though you want these cords to be cut always act from a place of love – positive energy, forgiveness and compassion. When you have finished, proceed to cut the circles in half allowing each half to become a complete circle.
Wave good-bye and see them in their circle leaving your auric field, floating into the distance. Do this daily until you feel they have been released and you are
free from their influence. It might take a while depending on the actual strength
of the attachment.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
or interactions with. The cords are energy ties to certain areas of our energy
bodies depending on the kind of interactions we had: for instance, control
energy – fear energy – power energy. Some cords are contracts with people that
have agreed to help us work through our lessons in life. We need to recognize
these, ask what it is there for, why we are connected to this person, what we
have to learn from them and what they have to learn from us.
Cords can be cut using the “Cutting the Ties That Bind” exercise, an exercise
created by Phyllis Krystal to remove the energy of unhealthy relationships from
your auric field. Visualize an infinity sign with the inner circles colored white
and the outer circles colored violet – violet is transformation and white is new beginning. Imagine you are standing in one side of the figure eight and the person you want to let go of is standing in the other side. Then imagine you are having
a conversation and you are telling this person how much he or she has helped
you to learn a valuable lesson in your life, how much you appreciate the experience.
See the cords that connect you to this person.
Then using a pair of golden scissors cut the energy cords you have built between
you, making sure that the cords are healed and sealed. Visualize these cords being cut – actually feel the golden scissors cutting into them and separation taking place. Even though you want these cords to be cut always act from a place of love – positive energy, forgiveness and compassion. When you have finished, proceed to cut the circles in half allowing each half to become a complete circle.
Wave good-bye and see them in their circle leaving your auric field, floating into the distance. Do this daily until you feel they have been released and you are
free from their influence. It might take a while depending on the actual strength
of the attachment.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
August 06, 2010
Reported and researched benefits of massage by holisticonline
Studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found massage
beneficial in improving weight gain in HIV-exposed infants and facilitating
recovery in patients who underwent abdominal surgery. At the University of Miami
School of Medicine's Touch Research Institute, researchers have found that
massage is helpful in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine sufferers and improving alertness and performance
in office workers.
An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart rate,
lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes
muscles, improves range of motion, and increases endorphins (enhancing medical treatment).
Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it can
stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack
of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. It also can
hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or injury.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
beneficial in improving weight gain in HIV-exposed infants and facilitating
recovery in patients who underwent abdominal surgery. At the University of Miami
School of Medicine's Touch Research Institute, researchers have found that
massage is helpful in decreasing blood pressure in people with hypertension, alleviating pain in migraine sufferers and improving alertness and performance
in office workers.
An increasing number of research studies show massage reduces heart rate,
lowers blood pressure, increases blood circulation and lymph flow, relaxes
muscles, improves range of motion, and increases endorphins (enhancing medical treatment).
Although therapeutic massage does not increase muscle strength, it can
stimulate weak, inactive muscles and, thus, partially compensate for the lack
of exercise and inactivity resulting from illness or injury. It also can
hasten and lead to a more complete recovery from exercise or injury.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
Massage for health and fitness by Elliot Greene
MASSAGE IS KNOWN TO:
- Cause changes in the blood. The oxygen capacity of the blood can
increase 10-15% after massage.
- Affect muscles throughout the body. Massage can help loosen contracted,
shortened muscles and can stimulate weak, flaccid muscles. This muscle
"balancing" can help posture and promote more efficient movement. Massage
does not directly increase muscle strength, but it can speed recovery from
the fatigue that occurs after exercise. In this way, it can be possible to
do more exercise and training, which in the long run strengthens muscles
and improves conditioning. Massage also provides a gentle stretching action
to both the muscles and connective tissues that surround and support the
muscles and many other parts of the body, which helps keep these tissues
elastic.
- Increase the body's secretions and excretions. There is a proven increase
in the production of gastric juices, saliva, and urine. There is also
increased excretion of nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, and sodium chloride
(salt). This suggests that the metabolic rate (the utilization of absorbed
material by the body's cells) increases.
- Affect the nervous system. Massage balances the nervous system by soothing
or stimulating it, depending on which effect is needed by the individual at
the time of the massage.
- Enhance skin condition. Massage directly improves the function of the
sebaceous (oil) and sweat glands which keep the skin lubricated, clean, cooled.
As a result, tough, inflexible skin can become softer and more supple.
- Affect internal organs. By indirectly or directly stimulating nerves that
supply internal organs, blood vessels of these organs dilate and allow greater
blood supply to them.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
- Cause changes in the blood. The oxygen capacity of the blood can
increase 10-15% after massage.
- Affect muscles throughout the body. Massage can help loosen contracted,
shortened muscles and can stimulate weak, flaccid muscles. This muscle
"balancing" can help posture and promote more efficient movement. Massage
does not directly increase muscle strength, but it can speed recovery from
the fatigue that occurs after exercise. In this way, it can be possible to
do more exercise and training, which in the long run strengthens muscles
and improves conditioning. Massage also provides a gentle stretching action
to both the muscles and connective tissues that surround and support the
muscles and many other parts of the body, which helps keep these tissues
elastic.
- Increase the body's secretions and excretions. There is a proven increase
in the production of gastric juices, saliva, and urine. There is also
increased excretion of nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, and sodium chloride
(salt). This suggests that the metabolic rate (the utilization of absorbed
material by the body's cells) increases.
- Affect the nervous system. Massage balances the nervous system by soothing
or stimulating it, depending on which effect is needed by the individual at
the time of the massage.
- Enhance skin condition. Massage directly improves the function of the
sebaceous (oil) and sweat glands which keep the skin lubricated, clean, cooled.
As a result, tough, inflexible skin can become softer and more supple.
- Affect internal organs. By indirectly or directly stimulating nerves that
supply internal organs, blood vessels of these organs dilate and allow greater
blood supply to them.
FOR ANY FURTHER INFORMATION
August 04, 2010
Synchronicity
Synchronicity is an explanatory principle, according to its creator,
Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist (1875-1961).
Synchronicity explains "meaningful coincidences," such as (for example)
a beetle flying into his room while a patient was describing a dream about
a scarab. The scarab is an Egyptian symbol of rebirth, he noted.
Therefore, the propitious moment of the flying beetle indicated that the transcendental meaning of both the scarab in the dream and the insect in
the room was that the patient needed to be liberated from her excessive
rationalism. His notion of synchronicity is that there is an acausal
principle that links events having a similar meaning by their coincidence
in time rather than sequentially.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and a colleague of Freud who
broke away from Freudian psychoanalysis over the issue of the unconscious
mind as a reservoir of repressed sexual trauma that causes all neuroses.
Jung then founded his own school of analytical psychology.
Jung believed in astrology, spiritualism, telepathy, telekinesis but also
in clairvoyance and ESP. In addition to believing in a number of occult and
paranormal notions, Jung contributed two new ones: synchronicity and the
collective unconscious.
Synchronicities are patterns that repeat in time. The word 'synchronicity'
references the gears or wheels of time, though the actual concept of
synchronicity cannot be scientifically proven. One can only record
synchronicities as they occur and watch the patterns of behavior that
create them.
The concept of synchronicity is currently linked more to metaphysics, yet
physics (quantum physics) and metaphysics are merging, thus showing their interconnection and how we manifest synchronicities in our lives.
Synchronicities are people, places or events that your soul attracts into
your life to help you evolve to higher consciousness or to place emphasis
on something going on in your life. The more 'consciously aware' you become
of how your soul manifests, the higher your frequency becomes and the faster
you manifest positively. Each day your life encounters meaningful
coincidences, synchronicities, that you have attracted, on other words
created in the grid of your experiences in the physical. Souls create synchronicities, played out in the physical.
Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist (1875-1961).
Synchronicity explains "meaningful coincidences," such as (for example)
a beetle flying into his room while a patient was describing a dream about
a scarab. The scarab is an Egyptian symbol of rebirth, he noted.
Therefore, the propitious moment of the flying beetle indicated that the transcendental meaning of both the scarab in the dream and the insect in
the room was that the patient needed to be liberated from her excessive
rationalism. His notion of synchronicity is that there is an acausal
principle that links events having a similar meaning by their coincidence
in time rather than sequentially.
Carl Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and a colleague of Freud who
broke away from Freudian psychoanalysis over the issue of the unconscious
mind as a reservoir of repressed sexual trauma that causes all neuroses.
Jung then founded his own school of analytical psychology.
Jung believed in astrology, spiritualism, telepathy, telekinesis but also
in clairvoyance and ESP. In addition to believing in a number of occult and
paranormal notions, Jung contributed two new ones: synchronicity and the
collective unconscious.
Synchronicities are patterns that repeat in time. The word 'synchronicity'
references the gears or wheels of time, though the actual concept of
synchronicity cannot be scientifically proven. One can only record
synchronicities as they occur and watch the patterns of behavior that
create them.
The concept of synchronicity is currently linked more to metaphysics, yet
physics (quantum physics) and metaphysics are merging, thus showing their interconnection and how we manifest synchronicities in our lives.
Synchronicities are people, places or events that your soul attracts into
your life to help you evolve to higher consciousness or to place emphasis
on something going on in your life. The more 'consciously aware' you become
of how your soul manifests, the higher your frequency becomes and the faster
you manifest positively. Each day your life encounters meaningful
coincidences, synchronicities, that you have attracted, on other words
created in the grid of your experiences in the physical. Souls create synchronicities, played out in the physical.
July 29, 2010
Impermanence by Thich Nhat Hanh
Nothing remains the same for two consecutive moments.
Heraclitus said we can never bathe twice in the same
river. Confucius, while looking at a stream, said:
"It is always flowing, day and night"
The Buddha himself implored us not just to talk about
impermanence but to use it as an instrument to help
us penetrate deeply into reality and obtain
liberating insight. We may be tempted to say that
because things are impermanent, there is suffering.
But the Buddha encouraged us to look again...
Without impermanence, life is not possible. How can
we transform our suffering if things are not
impermanent? How can our daughter grow up into a
beautiful young lady? How can the situation in the
world improve at all?
We need impermanence for social justice and for
hope. If you suffer, it is not because things are
impermanent. It is because you believe things are
permanent. When a flower dies, you don't suffer much
because you understand that flowers are impermanent.
But on the other hand, you cannot accept the
impermanence of your beloved ones and you suffer
deeply as a result.
Aware of impermanence, you become positive, loving
and wise. Impermanence is good news. Without
impermanence, NOTHING would be possible. With
impermanence, every single door is open for change.
We can look at impermanence as an instrument for
our liberation.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh is a vietnamese buddhist monk and the
author of dozens of books.In 1967, Martin Luther King
nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize,
saying: "I do not personally know of anyone more
worthy of this prize than this gentle monk from Vietnam.
His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument
to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity!"
Heraclitus said we can never bathe twice in the same
river. Confucius, while looking at a stream, said:
"It is always flowing, day and night"
The Buddha himself implored us not just to talk about
impermanence but to use it as an instrument to help
us penetrate deeply into reality and obtain
liberating insight. We may be tempted to say that
because things are impermanent, there is suffering.
But the Buddha encouraged us to look again...
Without impermanence, life is not possible. How can
we transform our suffering if things are not
impermanent? How can our daughter grow up into a
beautiful young lady? How can the situation in the
world improve at all?
We need impermanence for social justice and for
hope. If you suffer, it is not because things are
impermanent. It is because you believe things are
permanent. When a flower dies, you don't suffer much
because you understand that flowers are impermanent.
But on the other hand, you cannot accept the
impermanence of your beloved ones and you suffer
deeply as a result.
Aware of impermanence, you become positive, loving
and wise. Impermanence is good news. Without
impermanence, NOTHING would be possible. With
impermanence, every single door is open for change.
We can look at impermanence as an instrument for
our liberation.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh is a vietnamese buddhist monk and the
author of dozens of books.In 1967, Martin Luther King
nominated Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize,
saying: "I do not personally know of anyone more
worthy of this prize than this gentle monk from Vietnam.
His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument
to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity!"
July 25, 2010
Swimming in circles by Dick Sutphen
I recently read about a woman who needed to clean out her fish bowl, but could not find a container in which to place her two goldfish. So she filled up her bathtub with a couple of inches of water and placed the fish in the tub.
After cleaning the bowl and returning for the goldfish, she found them swimming in a corner of the tub in a circle no bigger than the fish bowl.
Compare yourself to the fish in the tub. Do your fears and habits and the patterns of your life keep you swimming in a small circle?
Or do you live dangerously, exploring the potentials of your existence?
Margaret Stortz says, “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”
When making a new decision about your life, Osho advises, “... don’t choose the convenient, the comfortable, the respectable, the socially acceptable, the honorable. Choose something that rings a bell in your heart. Choose something that you would like to do in spite of any consequences.”
If you’re swimming in small circles and life isn’t as fulfilling as you want it to be, consider your level of aliveness. Aliveness is excitement, enjoyment in doing what you do. It’s that blood-pumping exhilaration, challenge, joy, stimulation, and pleasure that makes life worth living.
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After cleaning the bowl and returning for the goldfish, she found them swimming in a corner of the tub in a circle no bigger than the fish bowl.
Compare yourself to the fish in the tub. Do your fears and habits and the patterns of your life keep you swimming in a small circle?
Or do you live dangerously, exploring the potentials of your existence?
Margaret Stortz says, “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”
When making a new decision about your life, Osho advises, “... don’t choose the convenient, the comfortable, the respectable, the socially acceptable, the honorable. Choose something that rings a bell in your heart. Choose something that you would like to do in spite of any consequences.”
If you’re swimming in small circles and life isn’t as fulfilling as you want it to be, consider your level of aliveness. Aliveness is excitement, enjoyment in doing what you do. It’s that blood-pumping exhilaration, challenge, joy, stimulation, and pleasure that makes life worth living.
For any further information
July 24, 2010
The Eighth Chakra
The eighth chakra sits above the 7th chakra about two feet. It is the energy center of divine love, of spiritual compassion and spiritual selflessness. It also is the chakra that holds your karmic residue -- those energy patterns that you have held on to for more than one lifetime. When the eighth center begins to open up and expand, a new spiritual awareness begins to take shape. The individual begins to sense himself or herself as part of a larger community of people. This chakra is the gateway to other ideas, concepts and abilities. This center enables the individual to achieve out of body projection, spiritual perception and spiritual wisdom. I use the word spiritual here because these abilities and ideas are larger than the self and the earth. They go beyond the mundane and are concerned with healing of the planet and the self in regards to the Universe and ALL-THAT-IS.
Because karma is involved here, any kind of healing that can bring out and clear past life trauma or patterns will help the individual. However, keep in mind that as soon as you do clear away any of these old patterns, the individual will experience an acceleration in spiritual abilities. It would be a good idea, in a week or so, after such a healing, that you follow up with a Foot Chakra clearing, to facilitate the passing of these more intense energies. As this chakra clears the individual will pass much more spiritual energy very quickly and is apt to become overwhelmed easily. A good healing mantra to use with this center would be the phrase MA-AH-ZOD. This phrase can help to clear karmic residues out of this center. Focusing or chanting this phrase to yourself while doing a healing will assist you in pulling the energy down that you need to process the chakra. Another mantra for this chakra is DEE-EE-OH. This mantra helps the chakra to open and become more aware of these new spiritual energies that are passing through it. Mantras are very important when working with these spiritual energy centers because a mantra will unlock the energy needed to complete a healing on these levels.
The eighth chakra does have a color associated to it and it is what you consider to be ultraviolet light. Unfortunately you are unable to see what ultraviolet light looks like (at least not with your conventional vision). However, to give you a way to perceive ultraviolet light in a mundane sense, you could imagine a very deep violet light being interpenetrated with spiraling bands of green in it.
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Because karma is involved here, any kind of healing that can bring out and clear past life trauma or patterns will help the individual. However, keep in mind that as soon as you do clear away any of these old patterns, the individual will experience an acceleration in spiritual abilities. It would be a good idea, in a week or so, after such a healing, that you follow up with a Foot Chakra clearing, to facilitate the passing of these more intense energies. As this chakra clears the individual will pass much more spiritual energy very quickly and is apt to become overwhelmed easily. A good healing mantra to use with this center would be the phrase MA-AH-ZOD. This phrase can help to clear karmic residues out of this center. Focusing or chanting this phrase to yourself while doing a healing will assist you in pulling the energy down that you need to process the chakra. Another mantra for this chakra is DEE-EE-OH. This mantra helps the chakra to open and become more aware of these new spiritual energies that are passing through it. Mantras are very important when working with these spiritual energy centers because a mantra will unlock the energy needed to complete a healing on these levels.
The eighth chakra does have a color associated to it and it is what you consider to be ultraviolet light. Unfortunately you are unable to see what ultraviolet light looks like (at least not with your conventional vision). However, to give you a way to perceive ultraviolet light in a mundane sense, you could imagine a very deep violet light being interpenetrated with spiraling bands of green in it.
For any further information
July 23, 2010
Chakra balancing by Phylameana Lila Desy
Having your chakras balanced is important. Open and balanced chakras allow your life energy to flow naturally. An energy medicine practitioner trained in manipulating the energy flow of energy can assist you in getting misaligned chakras back to functioning properly. It may take one or more appointments with a practitioner to get your energy levels up to par. To maintain balance there are a variety of healthy actions you can take to help keep your chakras open and functioning properly.
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For any further information
Crown chakra
The Crown Chakra is associated with the color violet or white. We use the seventh chakra as a tool to communicate with our spiritual nature. It is through this vortice that the life force is dispersed from the universe into the lower 6 chakras. It has been referred to as our "GOD SOURCE" - but this terminology might be confusing to anyone who equates God with religious dogma, because of this I choose to call it a spiritual connection or communicator. This chakra is often pictured as a lotus flower opening to allow spiritual awakening in an individual. The crown chakra could also be considered the well intuitive knowing is drawn from.
Chakra Seven - Associations
Chakra Seven - Associations
- Color - violet, white
- Sanskrit Name - sahasrara
- Physical Location - top of head
- Purposes - intuitive knowing, connection to one's spirituality, integration of the whole
- Spiritual Lesson - spirituality, living in the NOW
- Physical Disfunctions- mystical depression, diseases of the muscular system, skeletal system and the skin, chronic exhaustion not associated with physical ailments, sensitivity to light, sound, environment
- Mental and Emotional Issues - discovery of the divine, lack of purpose, loss of meaning or identity, trust, selflessness, humanitarianism, ability to see the bigger picture in the life stream, devotion, inspiration, values, ethics
- Information Stored Inside Crown Chakra - duality, magnetism, controlling patterns, emotional feelings (joy, anger, fear)
- Area of Body Governed - top center of the head, midline above the ears
Brow / Third eye chakra
The Brow Chakra is associated with the color indigo. It is also often referred to as the "third eye" or the "mind center." It is our avenue to wisdom - learning from our experiences and putting them in perspective. Our ability to separate reality from fantasy or delusions is in connection with the healthfulness of this chakra. Achieving the art of detachment beyond "small mindedness" is accomplished through developing impersonal intuitive reasoning. It is through an open brow chakra that visual images are received.
Chakra Six - Associations
Chakra Six - Associations
- Color - indigo
- Sanskrit Name - ajna
- Physical Location - center of the forehead
- Purposes - action of ideas, insight, mind development
- Spiritual Lesson - understanding, reality check point, detachment, open mind
- Physical Dysfunctions- brain tumors, strokes, blindness, deafness, seizures, learning disabilities, spinal dysfunctions, panic, depression
- Mental and Emotional Issues - fear of truth, discipline, judgement, evaluation, emotional intelligence, concept of reality, confusion
- Information Stored Inside Sacral Chakra - seeing clear picture (symbolic or literal), wisdom, intuition, mental facilities, intellect
- Area of Body Governed - brain, neurological system, eyes, ears, nose, pituitary, pineal glands
Throat chakra
The Throat Chakra is associated with the color sky blue. This chakra is our will center. The healthfulness of the fifth chakra is in relation to how honestly one expresses himself/herself. Lying violates the body and spirit . We speak our choices with our voices (throats). All choices we make in our lives have consequences on an energetic level. Even choosing not to make a choice such as in repressing our anger (not speaking out) may manifest into laryngitis. We have all experienced that "lump in our throats" when we are at a crossroad of not knowing how to speak the right words in any given situation, perhaps even stuffing our own emotions. A challenge of the throat chakra is to express ourselves in the most truthful manner. Also to receive and assimilate information. Seek only the truth.
Chakra Five - Associations
Chakra Five - Associations
- Color - blue
- Sanskrit Name - vishuddha
- Physical Location - throat, neck region
- Purposes - learning to take responsibility for one's own needs
- Spiritual Lesson - confession, surrender personal will over to divine will, faith, truthfulness over deceit
- Physical Dysfunctions- sore throat, mouth ulcers, scoliosis, swollen glands, thyroid dysfunctions, laryngitis, voice problems, gum or tooth problems, TMJ
- Mental and Emotional Issues - personal expression, creativity, addiction, criticism, faith, decision making (choices), will, lack of authority
- Information Stored Inside Throat Chakra - self-knowledge, truth, attitudes, hearing, taste, smell
- Area of Body Governed - throat, thyroid, trachea, neck vertebrae, mouth, teeth, gums, esophagus, parathyroid, hyperthalemus
Heart chakra
The Heart Chakra is associated with the color green or pink. This love center of our human energy system is often the focus in bringing about a healing. Thus, the words "Love Heals All" have great truth. Hurtful situations that can effect our emotional being are divorce or separation, grief through death, emotional abuse, abandonment, adultery. All of these are wounding to the heart chakra. Physical illnesses brought about by heartbreak require that an emotional healing occur along with the physical healing. Learning to love yourself is a powerful first step in securing a healthy fourth chakra. The "wounded child" resides in the heart chakra.
Chakra Four - Associations
Chakra Four - Associations
- Color - green, pink
- Sanskrit Name - anahata
- Physical Location - center of chest
- Purposes - emotional empowerment
- Spiritual Lesson - forgiveness, unconditional love, letting go, trust, compassion
- Physical Disfunctions- heart conditions, asthma, lung & breast cancers, thoracic spine, pneumonia, upper back, shoulder problems
- Mental and Emotional Issues - love, compassion, confidence, inspiration, hope, despair, hate, envy, fear, jealousy, anger, generosity
- Information Stored Inside Heart Chakra - connections or "heart strings" to those whom we love
- Area of Body Governed - heart, circulatory system, blood, lungs, rib cage, diaphragm, thymus, breasts, esophagus, shoulders, arms, hands
Solar Plexus chakra
The Solar Plexus Chakra is associated with the color yellow. This is the area which defines our "self-esteem". The personality that develops during puberty is housed in this chakra....otherwise known as the "EGO". Anyone experiencing dysfunction of the third chakra is having difficulty obtaining or maintaining his/her own "personal power". This intuitive chakra is where we get our "gut instincts" that signal us to do or not to do something. Strong self-esteem is required for developing intuitive skills.
Chakra Three - Associations
Chakra Three - Associations
- Color - yellow
- Sanskrit Name - manipura
- Physical Location - solar plexus
- Purposes - mental understanding of emotional life
- Spiritual Lesson - acceptance of your place in the life stream. (self-love)
- Physical Dysfunctions- stomach ulcers, intestinal tumors, diabetes, pancreatitis, indigestion, anorexia/bulimia, hepatitis, cirrhosis, adrenal imbalances, arthritis, colon diseases
- Mental and Emotional Issues - self esteem, fear of rejection, oversensitivity to criticism, self-image fears, fears of our secrets being found out, indecisiveness
- Information Stored Inside Sacral Chakra - personal power, personality, consciousness of self within the universe (sense of belonging), knowing
- Area of Body Governed - upper abdomen, umbilicus to rib cage, liver, gallbladder, middle spine, spleen, kidney, adrenals, small intestines, stomach
Sacral chakra
The Sacral Chakra is associated with the color orange or red-orange. I usually visualize the Sunkist orange that has been dyed to attract the produce buyer, or the orange red of an evening sunset when I'm focusing on spinning my second chakra. This chakra often offers us the opportunity to lessen our "control issues" and find a balance in our lives, teaching us to recognize that acceptance and rejection are not the only options in our relationships. The process of making changes in our life stream through our personal choices is a product of second chakra energy. A well-functioning second chakra helps one to maintain a healthy yin-yang existence.
Chakra Two - Associations
Chakra Two - Associations
- Color - orange
- Sanskrit Name - swadhisthana
- Physical Location - lower abdomen to the navel
- Purposes - emotional connection
- Spiritual Lesson - creativity, manifestation. honoring relationships, learning to "let go"
- Physical Dysfunctions- low back pain, sciatica, ob/gyn problems, pelvic pain, libido, urinary problems
- Mental and Emotional Issues - blame, guilt, money, sex, power, control, creativity, morality
- Information Stored Inside Sacral Chakra - duality, magnetism, controlling patterns, emotional feelings (joy, anger, fear)
- Area of Body Governed - sexual organs, stomach, upper intestines, liver, gallbladder, kidney, pancreas, adrenal glands, spleen, middle spine
Root chakra
The Base or Root Chakra is associated with the color red. This chakra is the grounding force that allows us to connect to the earth energies and empower our beings. Focusing one's attention on the color of a cherry popsicle or a juicy red apple can help bring our energetic body "down to earth" and in alignment with our physical body when we find ourselves energetically fleeting or in other words....."spacing off."
Chakra One - Associations
Chakra One - Associations
- Color - red
- Sanskrit Name - muladhara
- Physical Location - base of the spine
- Purposes - kinesthetic feelings, movement
- Spiritual Lesson - material world lessons
- Physical Dysfunctions- lower back pain, sciatica, varicose veins, rectal tumors, depression, immune related disorders
- Mental and Emotional Issues - survival, self esteem, social order, security, family
- Information Stored Inside Root Chakra - familial beliefs, superstitions, loyalty, instincts, physical pleasure or pain, touch
- Area of Body Governed - spinal column, kidneys, legs, feet, rectum, immune system
July 20, 2010
The chakra system
Chakras
Chakras are subtle energy centers from the Sanskrit word meaning "wheel of light". They look and feel like spinning discs and spheres when you turn your senses inward. The seven major chakras run in a line from the base of the spine to the top of the head and -in western medicine- are associated with a gland in the physical body. They interact with the physical body through two major vehicles, the endocrine system and the nervous system. Each of the seven chakras is associated with one of the seven endocrine glands -hypothalamus, pituitary gland, pineal gland, thyroid, parathyroids, adrenal glands, reproductive glands: ovaries or testes- and also with a group of nerves called a plexus. Thus each chakra can be associated with particular parts of the body and particular functions within the body controlled by the plexus or the endocrine gland associated with that chakra. They are more dense than the aura but not as dense as the physical body. They are aspects of consciousness. Understanding the chakras allows you to understand the relationship between your consciousness and your body and to thus see your body as a map of your consciousness. When you feel tension in your consciousness, it is reflected in the chakra associated with that part of your consciousness experiencing the stress but also in the parts of the physical body associated with that chakra. The tension in the chakra is detected by the nerves of the plexus associated with that chakra and transmitted to the parts of the body controlled by that plexus. When the tension continues over a period of time or to a particular level of intensity, the person creates a symptom on the physical level. That symptom actually serves to communicate to the person through their body awareness what they have been doing to themselves in their consciousness.
10 easy ways to ground yourself by Kris Cahill
Grounding makes it easier for you to manifest what it is you want in your life. It enables you to release energies that get caught in your body, in your "inner-landscapes" but are not yours. It helps you to heal yourself by letting go of harmful energies that could have a negative effect on your body. Grounding is a wonderful way of making you feel more relaxed, of dealing with anxiety, depression, stress, pain and fatigue as it makes your body feel calmer, safer and more balanced. It is also a very good way of letting go of the past. Moreover, it does not have any unpleasant side effects.
There are some easy ways to ground yourself.
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There are some easy ways to ground yourself.
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Practical applications of energy medicine, by Francesca McCartney
Presently, energy medicine is practised in many forms. The following is a brief list of energy medicine applications:
1. Meditation / Prayer.
2. Acupuncture.
3. Chi gong or Qigong.
4. Reiki / Therapeutic Touch.
5. Homeopathy.
6. Biofeedback.
7. Intuitive Medicine.
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1. Meditation / Prayer.
2. Acupuncture.
3. Chi gong or Qigong.
4. Reiki / Therapeutic Touch.
5. Homeopathy.
6. Biofeedback.
7. Intuitive Medicine.
For any further information
July 19, 2010
Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis
"The scientist knows that in the history of ideas, magic always precedes science, that the intuition of phenomena anticipates their objective knowledge" (Gauguelin, 1974, p.3).
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