on Netflix, or better yet go see live stand-up, as part of lifelong laughter therapy ...a life without laughter is no life at all.
The late comedian, George Burns, once said: "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family...in another city!" So that would explain why the holidays are so stressful. Those dear relatives who live in San Francisco suddenly are lingering in front of your refrigerator in Cincinnati, Ohio and you have to figure out a socially acceptable way of setting the table together, resisting the urge to re-expose the childhood wounds that you've learned to protect.
Here are a few tips I use in interacting with those family members who tend to wake my grumpy inner child, triggering an ugly tantrum right about the time Santa shows up with his loot.
Part I Dr. Greer meets with the producers of New Paradigm Films, based in Norway. He explains his background, and the experience with extraterrestrial contact in his early life that initiated his lifelong interest in this topic. He explains the purpose, goals and methods of the organizations he founded [see links below].
Then he addresses the questions: * How did you get [high profile military and governmental] people to come forward with their stories publicly? (@6min) * How did you reach the officials in government? (@9min) * Why the secrecy [and motivation behind repressing the information]? (@11:30min)
An astrologer friend of mine, Chris, and I were chatting once and he described relationships as "containers" of energy. He said the energy of couplehood is like a separate entity, that it has its own life, personality, strong points and weaknesses. He pointed out we would do well to honor that space, as it's all too easy to take it for granted. When the newness and intensity starts wearing off, what was once the magic of walking side by side with another soul becomes a prison.
Coincidentally, sometime before that, I had heard Robert Ohotto, a popular "intuitive astrologer" with an internet podcast show, explaining in one of his shows that the "bottle" of relationship-energy needs to stay "open," that fresh, positive energy needs to freely circulate into and out of it. This means the parties involved need to feel free to explore their respective souls, free to express and grow their authentic selves. If not, it's like an energetic stopper is "bottle-necking" the relationship. At that trajectory, the couple's individual spirits will start suffocating, and they will inadvertently start asphyxiating the little mutual "relationship energy body" they've created together. Before long, it will just die.
Chris and Robert are right. I remember when I did my first "relationship reading," I discovered that relationship-energy clairvoyantly looks like an altogether separate entity, an independent third party. It even has its own chakra system! So, I could psychically read this "relationship energy body" just could read any individual's energy. Energy dynamics are amazing.
Men, this article is not to make you paranoid, but to remind you to take your health seriously. Nothing else says "I love you" to your loved ones more than your doing that. It's more important than the money you make, the bills you are able to pay, the material things you are able to buy, etc.
One of Men’s Health’s top experts, T.E. Holt, M.D., a physician in North Carolina, tells this story about one of his patients:
A man came in, dragged by his daughter because, she explained, he had been steadily losing weight and was covered in big lumps. The lumps had been growing for 2 years, maybe more, she said. I had no doubt, from the moment I saw him, that this man was dying. He had lumps as big as my fist on his forehead and his back, and as I came closer and moved around him, more came into view. When I pressed deeply into his belly, I felt a solid rock where there should have been yielding space. It was metastatic sarcoma, a rare cancer of the connective tissue. Four months later, the man was dead.
A regular meditation practice is like a bridge connecting our busy mun- dane minds to a peaceful sense of silence and illuminating awareness.
Buddhism is full of techniques for dealing with an overly active mind during meditation. From what I have learned about meditation, the mind is supposed to be alert and aware during meditation (not drifting off somewhere in space, nor listening to "voices"or zoning out to "meditation music," etc.). Yet, it's not to be caught in a parade of discursive thoughts, either...somewhere on a Middle Path between the two extremes.
Of course, discursive thoughts have their place: they are great when one is trying to write something, like a blog post for instance, or give a speech, or chat with a beloved friend.But they are obviously problematic to a meditator, someone trying to get away from them for a while. One method (or an approach to living, really) is that of shikantaza,“just sitting” in Japanese. This method is a wonderful bridge leading one beyond the endless chitter-chatter of one’s thoughts, into a peaceful and empowering experience of pure awareness.It involves only concentrating on the awareness of one’s body just sitting as one meditates, nothing more.
"Dreaming is the inner language of the soul through which wisdom is transmitted to our conscious minds." -Arthur Bernard
Sometimes before I go to bed, I pause and wonder with delight, "What will I dream of next? What will be tonight's special feature?"
Dreaming is like simultaneously producing and watching a movie, and our minds are like amazing, one-stop production companies! We are at once the writers, lead actors, directors, producers and enthralled audiences of our own dream-movies. It's a shame few of us take the time to remember, record and decipher our dreams. Like Hollywood movies, most dreams have a "moral of the story," a valuable message with wisdom we could apply to our lives. Our conscious minds are usually too busy with mundane matters to listen to what our deeper selves have to say, to hear our inner wisdom. So dreaming is a wonderful tool, a technology of the soul that, as Bernard stated, transmits this wisdom to our conscious, waking selves. So many of the dreams we dream are created by us, for us.
Hi. We have recently found out that my 13 year old son is clairaudient. We love and support him but this is all new to us. I was wondering if there is any information or guidence you could suggest. We have saged the house and have crystals in his room, and I have organized for him to have meditation and Reiki classes. Are we doing the right things for him? We feel it is important for him to have a normal (so to speak) childhood. I would love to know if there is any sort of website that children with these abilities can talk to each other? Thank you.
My answer was:
Acceptance
In my opinion you are doing so many things right! For one, you accept him as he is. That is huge. So many psychic kids (and adults) are not accepted by their loved ones, but ostracized, so they suppress their skills in order to be “acceptable.” Or, they are forced to sadly dissociate from their families in order to be around those who accept them. Either way, it can be lonely and painful. So a huge, potential block to his well-being is lifted by the love and acceptance you’ve shown him. Bravo.
Of course, after he leaves his loving home, he’s got the world to face. But with that, you’re also helping him. You’re preparing him for the world by letting him develop and control his metaphysical skills slowly, while he’s still with you. By the time he leaves home he will be able to focus on the normal issues we all have to face, making a living, etc., without the added burden of not knowing how to control his psychic ability. You’ve seen to it that he started developing his skills in meditation and Reiki. He will naturally gravitate to other modalities that interest him on his own. You've opened the door for him to explore.
Tools
Meditation is important so that he is able to focus his mind, which is crucial for someone with psychic ability. If one’s mind is not balanced and focused, psychic ability could be a very negative thing. For example, someone with clairaudience, if unbalanced, might “hear” from and obey the wrong kinds of entities. Reiki is a form a energy manipulation, a skill that someone sensitive to subtle energy would greatly benefit from in order to grasp and feel comfortable with it. Reiki practitioners not only work to heal other people, but they also learn to keep their own energy healthy and properly attuned. So you are equiping him with tools he will find valuable now, and in the future as an adult. I would say you are doing the right things, and should keep it up.
Adapting
Be easy on yourself and don’t make too big a deal about his being “normal” or not. It’s important that he learns to handle a little taunting from others, or occasional loneliness, in a positive way, so he will have developed adaptive skills by the time he’s grown. All of us feel different, misunderstood sometimes. We all have something different about us that we think we need to “fix” in order to fit in. People with straight hair get curly perms; those with curly hair buy flat irons and straighten it. If it wasn’t clairaudience that made him different, what would it have been? --a big nose, or big ears, or exceptional mathematics ability? It would have been something. So one of the best things you could do is relax, continue giving him a sense of acceptance, and celebrate his differences.
Networking
As far as meeting other kids like him, in the process of attending various metaphysical events and classes, he will naturally make new friends. I find that the more events I attend, the more kindred spirits I meet! So, give it time. It will happen naturally. He'll be fine. You’re on the right track and doing great, Mom. Here are some additional sources you might look into for starters:
Profound Awareness Institute - "Where families & individuals to meet locally & virtually in a safe, supportive environment”
Children with Light forum - “Children with Light is a board for children who wish to communicate with other children who have intuitive abilities”
Psychic Meetup groups in Melbourne, Australia - I’m not sure where in Australia you are. But here is a listing of psychic groups in Melbourne to start your search of finding a children’s group (you could type in another city in the search field at the top).
Some people get too many readings by too many people. Yikes. It's like having too many GPS mon- itors going at once! Read more here: Addicted
I don't know how I, or any other reader gets psychic information. Perhaps one day science will explain it! For now, the best we could do is try to understand it with analogies that come close to explaining the phenomena.
Here's ananalogy I thought might help shed some light on how a it works: think of the reader as your GPS navigating equipment. And think of
your energy (your life, your soul) as the location we're trying to
triangulate and read. To get the best reading from "the equipment," the following
tips might help...
"It all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that
remains in the final weeks, love and relationships...choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness." --Bronnie Ware
For
many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had
gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with
them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.
People
grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never
to underestimate someone's capacity for growth. Some changes were
phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial,
fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every
single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one
of them.
When questioned about any regrets they had or anything
they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here
are the most common five:
I had end stage cancer (Hodgkin’s Lymphoma), and was being cared for at home. I was connected to an oxygen tank, and had a full time nurse. But on this morning, February 2nd 2006, I did not wake up. I had fallen into a coma. My husband called my doctor who said I needed to be rushed to hospital. The senior oncologist looked at me and told my husband that it was now the end, and that my organs were now shutting down. I would probably not make it beyond the next 36 hours. However, the oncologist said he would do whatever he could but prepared my husband that I would most likely not make it, as my organs were no longer functioning. They determined this because my body started to swell up, and I had open skin lesions. They started me on a cocktail of medication on a drip, and poked me with tubes and pipes for nourishment, drugs and oxygen.
Anita is a life coach, and shares her unique experience with audiences around the world to help others reach their goals
and appreciate the gift that life is.
I thought that I was drifting in and out of consciousness during this time, because I was aware of everything that was going on around me. But it was confirmed to me later by my family and the doctors that I was in a coma the whole time. I saw and heard the conversations between my husband and the doctors taking place outside my room, about 40 feet away down a hallway. I was later able to verify this conversation to my shocked husband.
The amount of love I felt was overwhelming, and from this perspective, I knew how powerful I am, and saw the amazing possibilities we as humans are capable of achieving during a physical life. I found out that my purpose now would be to live “heaven on earth” using this new understanding, and also to share this knowledge with other people. However I had the choice of whether to come back into life, or go towards death. I was made to understand that it was not my time, but I always had the choice, and if I chose death, I would not be experiencing a lot of the gifts that the rest of my life still held in store.
At first, I did not want to come back, because my body was very sick, and I did not want to come back into this body as the organs had already stopped functioning and I had all these open skin lesions. But it seemed that almost immediately, I became aware that if I chose life, my body would heal very quickly. I would see a difference in not months or weeks, but days!
I then started to understand how illnesses start on an energetic level before they become physical. If I chose to go into life, the cancer would be gone from my energy, and my physical body would catch up very quickly. I then understood that when people have medical treatments for illnesses, it rids the illness only from their body but not from their energy so the illness returns. I realized if I went back, it would be with a very healthy energy. Then the physical body would catch up to the energetic conditions very quickly and permanently. I seemed to become aware that this applies to anything, not only illnesses – physical conditions, psychological conditions, etc. I became aware that everything going on in our lives was dependent on this energy around us, created by us. Nothing was real – we created our surroundings, our conditions, etc. depending where this “energy” was at. The clarity I felt around how we get what we do was phenomenal! It’s all about where we are energetically. I somehow knew that I was going to see “proof” of this first hand if I returned back to my body.
It felt as though I was drifting in and out between the two worlds, this physical world and the other side, but every time I drifted into the “other side”, I seemed to go deeper and experienced more “scenes”. There was one where I saw how my life had touched all the people in it – it was sort of like a tapestry and I saw how I affected everyone’s lives around me. There was another scene where I saw my brother on a plane, having heard the news I was dying, coming to see me (this was verified to me as when I started to come round, my brother was there, having just got off a plane).
I then saw a glimpse of my brother and me and somehow seemed to understand it was a previous life, where I was much older than him and was like a mother to him (in this life, he is older than me). I saw in that life I was very protective towards him. I suddenly became aware he was on the plane to come and see me, and felt “I can’t do this to him – can’t let him come and see me dead”. Then I also saw how my husband’s purpose was linked to mine, and how we had decided to come and experience this life
together. If I went, he would probably follow soon after.
In addition, I seemed to understand
that, as tests had been taken for my organ functions (and the results
were not out yet), that if I chose life, the results would show that my
organs were functioning normally. If I chose death, the results would
show organ failure as the cause of death, due to cancer. I was able to
change the outcome of the tests by my choice!
I made my choice, and as I started to
wake up (in a very confused state, as I could not at that time tell
which side of the veil I was on), the doctors came rushing into the
room with big smiles on their faces saying to my family “Good news – we
got the results and her organs are functioning – we can’t believe it!!
Her body really did seem like it had shut down!”
After that, I began to recover
rapidly. The doctors had been waiting for me to become stable before
doing a lymph node biopsy to track the type of cancer cells, and they
could not even find a lymph node big enough to suggest cancer (upon
entering the hospital my body was filled with swollen lymph nodes and
tumors the size of lemons, from the base of my skull all the way to my
lower abdomen). They did a bone marrow biopsy, again to find the cancer
activity so they could adjust the chemotherapy according to the
disease, and there wasn’t any in the bone marrow. The doctors were very
confused, but put it down to me suddenly responding to the chemo.
Because they themselves were unable to understand what was going on,
they made me undergo test after test, all of which I passed with flying
colors, and clearing every test empowered me even more! I had a full
body scan, and because they could not find anything, they made the
radiologist repeat it again!!!!
Because of my experience, I am now
sharing with everyone I know that miracles are possible in your life
every day. After what I have seen, I realize that absolutely anything
is possible, and that we did not come here to suffer. Life is supposed
to be great, and we are very, very loved. The way I look at life has
changed dramatically, and I am so glad to have been given a second
chance to experience “heaven on earth”.
________________________________________
Dr. Jeffrey Long's Questionnaire for Anita
Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words?
Yes. The experience was much more than words can express. Putting words to it makes the experience smaller and more limited. What I saw, perceived, and felt, and the clarity I experienced about life, was more than anything we are able to conceive, so words have not been created to describe it.
At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event? I was dying of cancer, and the doctors had said I only had about 36 hours to live. It was at this point where I started drifting between another dimension and this one.
At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? Probably at the time when I was given the choice whether to go back.
How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal.
If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain: Even though I was in a coma, I seemed to be going in and out of consciousness, so I was aware of both “sides”. I was also aware of conversations taking place outside the room, beyond my earshot.
Did your vision differ in any way from your normal, everyday vision (in any aspect, such as clarity, field of vision, colors, brightness, depth perception degree of solidness/transparency of objects, etc.)? Yes. I was aware that I was still in the room – even though to others, my eyes were closed and I was not awake, I was still able to “see” everyone in the room, and at the same time experience the other dimension, as if it existed simultaneously.
Did your hearing differ in any way from your normal, everyday hearing (in any aspect, such as clarity, ability to recognize source of sound, pitch, loudness, etc.)? Yes. I was able to hear what was being said by the doctors and my family outside the room, well out of earshot.
Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body?
Uncertain
What emotions did you feel during the experience? Felt tremendous love, more than anything I have experienced on earth. I felt very loved, like no matter what I did, I would still be loved. I did not have to do anything to deserve it or prove myself.
Did you meet or see any other beings? Yes. I was surrounded by many beings, including my father and my best friend who had passed on. I did not recognize the other beings, but I knew they loved me very much and were protecting me. I became aware that they were there all the time, even when I was not aware of it.
Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later? Yes. I saw and heard a conversation taking place between my doctor and my husband outside of my room and down a hallway. I saw my brother on a plane coming to see me. Both of these were verified, including the conversation beween my doctor and husband, which I repeated word for word.
Did you have any sense of altered space or time? Yes. I felt I was in the other dimension a lot longer than I really was. The amount I saw and learned would have taken a lot longer in this dimension. Also, with the medical tests that were done, even though the tests were done, the results were dependant on my choice of whether to come back into life or not. That really changed my concept of time!!
Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose? Yes. The clarity was amazing! I understood why I had the cancer, I understood how people get what they do, and I understood that life is a gift, but we don’t realize it. I understood that we are very, very loved, no matter what. We don’t have to do anything to prove ourselves to god, and there is no “heaven” or “hell”. I realized we create our own heaven or hell here on earth, and I learned the key ingredients for creating my own heaven on earth!
Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? Yes. I reached the point where I felt I had to make the choice whether to go back to life or onward into death. My best friend was there (who had died of cancer 2 years before) and she told me that this was as far as I could go or I would not be able to turn back. “You have come to the edge. This is as far as you can go” she said. “Now go back and live your life fully and fearlessly.”
Did you become aware of future events? Yes. I was aware my body would heal very quickly, and it did. I was aware that all the tests would show phenomenal results, and they did. They found no trace of any disease on my scans, my biopsies, etc. My organs are functioning normally, my appetite came back, and I was made aware all of this would happen. It has only been 6 months since my NDE, and I am still awaiting all the other gifts that were shown to me. However, I can see my life changing in a direction where all of this is very possible. One of the things I saw was a very long life ahead of me!
Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience? Yes. I have been much more intuitive since the experience. When I am alone, I often get the awareness of being surrounded by beings (the same beings I felt when I crossed over), and being very, very loved – that same feeling I got during the NDE.
Have you shared this experience with others? Yes. Within days after it happened, as soon as I was well enough to talk, I started sharing it with my close family members – my husband, my brother (who I had seen on the plane), my mother. We were all very emotional and in tears. And the were all shocked with my account of events, the test results which I knew would be normal because I chose to come back, the conversations I “heard”. Then they saw the speed of my recovery, the shock of the doctors who could no longer find any trace of cancer – it has changed my whole family. I also shared with my best friend who has been by me during this experience, and it has changed her life too.
Going out and meeting people after coming out of hospital changed a lot of people, because the last they saw or heard of me, I was on my death bed! I had looked very, very sick, and could not walk or breath properly at that time. Now I looked totally healthy and normal. The first time I walked into a group gathering after coming out of hospital, everyone’s jaw dropped. They looked at me as if they had seen a ghost. They could not believe how quickly I had recovered – everyone thought I was going to die! Then I shared my experience with everyone in the room, and all of them believed me because they had seen the “before” and “after”. Some of them said I had changed their lives.
Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? Yes. I have read about NDEs but never expected to experience one. My NDE felt completely different to anything I have read because there was no light, tunnel, no religious figure, and I did not see my whole life flash before my eyes. While I was experiencing it, I had no idea that I was experiencing an NDE or an out of body experience. It felt very normal at the time. It was only after that I realized I had slipped to another dimension.
How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real I knew it was real because nothing else could explain the miraculous way my cancer just disappeared from my body!!! (I have the scans and medical tests to prove it)! And the charge I felt from the empowerment and the understanding – nothing else could explain the shift I felt in my way of thinking!
Were there one or several parts of the experience especially meaningful or significant to you? The whole thing was very powerful – I cannot imagine anything more empowering happening to me. However, two main things impacted me – one was being able to change the outcome of the test results. That made me realize that nothing is solid (or real). We can change anything. The second thing, even more impacting, is how my body went from being almost dead from cancer to totally healthy without a trace of illness in such a short time! It not only makes me feel that everything (including cancer) is not real (a shift in consciousness made it disappear!) but it also makes me feel very powerful, and I have a totally different understanding of life now.
How do you currently view the reality of your experience? Experience was definitely real. First of all, I am enjoying the wonders of my healthy body. I haven’t felt this way in a while! Secondly, I feel very “connected” in a way I never have before. Sort of “guided”. I don’t feel afraid of anything anymore. I know I won’t die until I complete everything I came here to do. And even then, I am not afraid of death. Many, many more “coincidences” have been occurring in my life since the experience (hence the “guided” feeling).
Things have been falling into my lap when I have wanted them, the right people call, I have been bumping into the right people, getting e-mails which answer questions I need answered, etc. Life has just become a lot easier, however it has only been a few months since I have been well. I am still feeling very high, and at the moment am still feeling the reality of the whole thing.
Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience? Yes. I have become even closer to my family, but my social circle has changed. A lot of my old friends have drifted away from me because I am not the same person they used to know, but I have made a few new friends since this experience, who know and accept who I am now.
Have your religious beliefs/practices changed specifically as a result of your experience? Uncertain. I was never very religious to begin with. I still don’t believe in any particular religion, however this experience has transformed my “belief” in the afterlife into “knowledge” that it is really true (gnosis).
Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience? Yes. I am able to go back to that “connected” feeling of being loved, and feeling the other beings surrounding me, particularly when I am sitting still in a quiet environment.
Did the questions asked and information you provided so far accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes.
by Elizabeth Cohen,
Senior Medical Correspondent
for CNNHealth
August 5, 2011
Adopting a healthy diet doesn't have to
happen overnight. It's the small things
you do, little by little, that really add up.
Looking back on it, Wendy Fox thinks it was the M&M's that did her in. They
sat in a glass bowl on her living room table, taunting her every time
she walked by, seemingly calling out for her to scoop up a few and eat
them. Eat them she did, as well as anything else chocolaty that crossed
her path, such as a brownie at her favorite restaurant, or a mocha drink
at Starbuck's.
"We are all diamonds, cleaning our facets, gaining wisdom, mastering compassion and returning to our spiritual home." --Brian Weiss, M.D., past life author, lecturer and therapist
Below are aspects of past lives that I've observed through many readings, and through my own personal regression experiences. I welcome your comments on any of this.
Balance
The goal of souls who incarnate here as humans seems to be attaining balance in the dichotomy that is the existence of the Earth plane, to somehow reconcile life as a spirit living in a physical body situated in a physical world. In a nutshell, it appears that we incarnate here to learn what’s real (love), and what’s not (everything else, though they’re very convincing illusions). It can be quite a challenge!
Judith Orloff, MD is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA. She is the author of the New York Times and international bestseller, Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life (Three Rivers Press, 2011), from which the following is an excerpt. Visit her website: Judith Orloff, M.D.
As a psychiatrist, I have observed that relationships can be one of the major sources of exhaustion for my patients. In “Emotional Freedom” I discuss how to deal with different kinds of draining people to avoid getting fatigued, sick, or burned out. One of these is the control freak.
The Page of Pentacles explores issues of self- worth, and how to value the world around him.
Introducing, The Page
The Page, in contrast to the “older” members of the royal court (king, queen, etc.) is the archetype of the newbie, the upstart, the person just starting out on his journey of life, with many lessons ahead to learn. Energetic young people holding servant-like positions in Congress are actually still called “pages,” and they do the bidding of the older, elected members. White House interns choose to be interns at the nation's capitol because they aspire to have political careers one day. They want to learn what exactly goes on behind the scenes there, the stuff they’re not taught at school. Such is the fearless thirst for knowledge of the Page.
If you observe your thoughts in the course of a day, you'll find that your mind has fluctuated through a series of "states." Sometimes, you're scattered, sometimes focused, sometimes emotional, sometimes lethargic. This mental fluctuating is not a new phenomenon, and Indian yogis wrote about this tendency of our minds centuries ago. They categorized these fluctuating states into five general categories, which the article below (excerpted from Crystallotus.com) describes. The actual text from the original article is displayed in yellow font, and my personal commentary is beneath it.
I've learned that sometimes the questions you don't ask in a psychic reading provide you the answers you really
need. We don't notice some of the dynamics of a
situation when we're in the middle of it, especially something
stressful. Our own emotions can get in the way, and we
can't process our thoughts smoothly, nor pick up on intuitive information when it tries to get our attention. But, the message from Spirit will still get to us, one way or another.
When It's Not the "When," but the "How"
I'll give you a couple examples of how I have seen this in play in other peoples' readings. In "Denisha's" (not her name) situation, the answer from Spirit was not the When, but the How. She wanted to know When "John" would return in her life again (which I sensed was a no-go, he was long gone and not returning).
I could barely hear her speaking due to the loudness of a noisy anger emanating from her energy (the anger actually had a sound to it, a "vibration"). And I was distracted by what clairvoyantly looked like a "score book" floating around her head. It wasn't a scorecard, it was a whole book, a ledger full of grudges and resentments she kept front-and-center in her mind regarding John. I intuited that she frequently reviewed every page of it, again and again, and that during their relationship, she sadistically enjoyed punishing John whenever she was right.
When I tuned into John's energy, who was not in attendance at the session, I sensed that he had endured a barrage of verbal abuse from Denisha. It started to disturb me, to be honest. This lady had an anger management problem. I was a little surprised because it's more common, I think, to see this dynamic the other way around: the male is commonly the oppressor, and the female the oppressed. When I honestly pointed out what I sensed, she did not deny it, but just sat there quietly, staring at the floor. Was she finally making the connection between her behavior and his reaction to it? Not quite yet.
The most loving thing we can say to our partners is,
"Teach me how to love you."
At the gates of commitment, leave all illusions behind. Falling in love is as natural as death. Staying in love is as natural as good diet and healthy exercise. We can eat, exercise, and love well in the short run, but over the long haul of everyday modern living, we tend to shoot ourselves in the foot. That's because, like toddlers, we try to do these things in the wrong part of our brains. Below are two of the major ways we shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to love.
Toddler-love Mistake #1: The Illusion of Sameness
The biggest mistake we make in love is assuming that our partners' experience is the same as ours and that events and behaviors should mean the same to them as they do to us. The illusion of sameness allows us to create some measure of safety in the face of the awful vulnerability that new intimate connections evoke. To ward off feelings of inadequacy, we talk ourselves into pleasant delusions:
"Our hearts beat as one."
"We're soul mates."
"We're so close that we complete each other's sentences."
"She really believes in me."
"He really gets me."
If you're interested in making donations to tsunami victims in Japan, here are some organizations working with them:
SHELTERBOX: You could donate a box in the name of an organization, individual, etc. Each box includes a tent for a family of 10, cooker, blankets, water purification, tool kit, eating utensils, first aid kit, and other items survivors need following a disaster. Every box bears its own unique number, and is monitored and tracked for which donations are spent on which boxes. Donate here: ShelterBox AMERICAN RED CROSS: The American Red Cross is currently supporting and advising the Japanese Red Cross, which continues to assist the government in its response. Donate here: American Red Cross
GLOBALGIVING: Established a fund to disburse donations to organizations providing relief and emergency services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami such as International Medical Corps, Save the Children, etc. Donate here: GlobalGiving
What is Hypnotherapy? Am I going to lose control or cluck like a chicken? Yes, there are many misconceptions about hypnotherapy. And that may be because many people’s only experience of it involves seeing a stage show where people were made to do incredibly embarrassing things to the loud laughter of the audience, and appeared to have no awareness of it.
Getting What I Wanted, Yet Unable to Enjoy It
I will admit my first exposure to hypnosis was, indeed, a stage show at my high school's all-night grad party. Watching the popular kids embarrass themselves was my favorite memory, but it did not make me want to ever try it. Fast forward to me having my first experience with hypnotherapy ten years later to end my ten-year battle with my weight. I had tried diets (healthy or un-healthy), exercise, and had noticed the completely ironic situation that the better my life got in terms of healthier relationship, better home, happier children, the worse my weight, anxiety and fear got.
Makiko Yamashita
Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL)
Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Fund Manager
Florin, CA Branch
and
Marielle Tsukamoto
JACL President
Florin, CA Branch
Dear Friends,
As growing nuclear threats follow a devastating tsunami and shattering earthquake, our hearts go out to the brave people of Japan. To help the victims of this tragedy hitting March 11, 2011, the Florin JACL, in partnership with the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC), has established a local relief fund. 100% of the donations will go directly towards citizen relief efforts in the most affected areas of Japan.
"The lack of humility before nature displayed here staggers me...Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they COULD, they didn't stop to think if they SHOULD..."
Today I saw several references made on the internet to the HAARP complex in Gakona, Alaska, a machine that's suspected by some to have played a role in the 8.9 Japanese earthquake which occurred a few days ago, as well as other disasters in recent history such as earthquakes in Chile, China, Haiti, and Iran, the Indonesian tsunami, and such. It's even implicated in military-funded weather control and mind control experiments and projects. Nikola Tesla's research and development early in the 20th century provided the groundwork for the eventual creation of HAARP, an acronym for High Frequency Active Auroral Resonance Program.
by Jennifer Tzeses for Women's Day magazine, posted July 23 2009
This is an interesting article I came across that I thought I'd share. Anything that presents alternatives to grabbing a bottle of pills to solve a problem, I'm all for. Though I'm not crazy about the botox idea, it was interesting to read about. You'll have to tinker with these "cures" to see which ones work for you, and which ones don't ...each body is different. --Elisa
When a headache hits, the discomfort can be a real pain in the neck—not to mention the pounding pressure it imparts on your skull. For many people, medication is often the first line of defense, but did you know there are other ways to tame your pain? If you have persistent headaches, see your doctor for treatment, but in the meantime, here are some unexpected ways to ease your aches.
Botox
It may be best known for smoothing out wrinkles, but this wonder toxin also works magic on headache pain. “Botox relaxes the muscles that are contracted thanks to your headache,” says Traci Purath, MD, medical director of Comprehensive Headache Care at Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group in Franklin, Wisconsin. “It blocks sensory nerves that relay pain to the brain and eases tension in the forehead and the back of the neck,” she says. About eight injections, which feel like tiny pinpricks, are administered in the areas where the pain occurs. The effects start to kick in about eight to 10 days later. Treatments are recommended no more than every three months.
Acupuncture
A little alternative assistance can be the trick to treat your aching head. “Acupuncture works the mind-body connection to help patients be in tune with their pain,” says Dr. Purath. Needles are placed on specific pain sensory areas on the neck, forehead and cheeks to redirect the pain. “The body learns to readjust its level of pain and desensitize the pathways over time,” she adds. The needles are so tiny you can barely feel them. In fact, some patients report feeling an overall sense of relaxation, says Dr. Purath. Treatment may be needed for several months, but the benefits can last up to a year.
Sex
Fess up: How many times have you used the excuse of a headache to get out of a little lovin’ with your husband? Well, sorry to say, that free pass just won’t fly anymore, since sex can actually help relieve a headache. “Natural endorphins and other pain-relieving hormones are released during orgasm, which help you to relax and give you a sense of calm,” says Dr. Purath. The effects are fleeting, though, so be prepared with a backup pain blocker.
Kichari is a staple dish in India. Ayurvedic practice recommends it be eaten as often as possible, especially after a fast. It ranges from fluffy (as pictured above), to a more soupy, porridge-like consistency.
Recently I attended a wonderful function centered on “ayurvedic cooking.” A sign was posted on a beverage cannister pointing out that the beverage inside was “tridoshic,” and several people asked me what it meant. Here’s a brief explanation of this term, and how it relates to ayurveda (and to the drink inside the cannister!). This explanation is my simple take on this subject, in no way coming close to a scholarly treatise of any measure. Bookstores and the internet have abundant literature about this topic, written by experts. So search those places to dig deeper if you would like to learn more, or talk to an ayurveda doctor proper.
Doshas
This much I do know: Ayurveda is an ancient East Indian system of health primarily incorporating what we eat and drink, as well as many other wellness and beauty practices (with the belief that inner and outer beauty both spring from wellness). Dosha is Sanskrit for “deviation.” It indicates one of three main expressions of prana (life-force energy) found in both the physical and spiritual environments: vata dosha, pitta dosha or kapha (kap-hah) dosha. These expressions are based on the ever-changing interplay of the five great elements (panchamahabhuta) within and around us: ether (akasha), air (vayu), earth (bhumi), water (jala), and fire (agni).
Panchakarma is an ayurvedic prac- tice that incorporates massage and other modalities geared toward clean- sing and detoxifying the body/mind.
Dosha could apply to a variety of things, such as the portion of the day it is at the moment, or the stage of one’s lifetime in which one finds oneself, or the primary constitution of one’s physical body and mind. In terms of our body/minds then, the goal of ayurveda is to maintain a stasis between spirit (atma), mind (mana), emotions (indriya), and physical body (sharira). Ayurveda uses what we eat and drink, and other health-maintenance practices, as "tools" for establishing and maintaining that stasis.
Singers might be interested in yogic breathing, pranayama (प्राणायाम). Pranayama is an in-depth aspect of yoga practice. Like yoga postures (yogasana), which most people are familiar with, it was intended as a preparation for meditation (dhyana), which is the true yoga.
Teachers like B.K.S. Iyengar stress that traditionally, the teaching of pranamaya is that one should not attempt a serious practice of pranayama without the guidance and supervision of a qualified teacher. But he does recommend that for good health, a very simple daily pranayama practice is beneficial for anyone.
Two simple, but effective pranayam breathing exercises are the energizing kapalabhati, and the calminganuloma viloma. Singers especially could benefit from these two practices, but they are helpful to everyone.
You wouldn't go 10 years without cleaning your car would you? What about your bathroom sink or toilet? Imagine what it would look like if you didn't clean them for 10 years. Pretty disgusting huh? How about your socks and underwear? You wash and clean those regularly too right? I certainly hope so!
Well think about this now: when was the last time you got your aura, chakras, and meridians cleaned? The answer for most people is probably "never." And that is more or less equivalent to treating your energy body the same way as if you hadn't washed or repaired your car in 10 years. And people are baffled as to why they are in pain or having trouble accomplishing their goals in life. It is because, metaphorically speaking, their energy body looks something like this:
The simple routine in the video embedded below is great for getting up from your computer, disengaging your neck, arm, and shoulder muscles, as well as your eyes, from that static "computer pose." The key here is to breathe deeply in concert with each gentle movement. Linking the breath to the movement is what makes it so relaxing. You don't have to be a regular yoga practitioner to do it. This routine would also work well as a morning warm-up upon arising, or as before-bed decompression from the day's stresses.
If you're at work, you won't be breaking a sweat with this so you could do it in your work clothes (you might have to tuck your shirt back in afterward, though). If you don't have a private office to work out in, just do the standing sequence only at the first part of the video, which you could at your chair or outside in the smoking area, and then skip to the final meditation. Save the floor sequences for home.
If you do the whole routine it would take all of fifteen minutes or so. The video itself is over twenty minutes long, but that's because the instructor is pausing frequently to give direction. Once you learn it yourself, it could go a lot quicker.
I find it very balancing and centering. I feel regrouped, and ready to continue with the rest of the day. Hope you find it beneficial, too!
Sanskrit writing for "karma." Unlike this beautiful artwork, our karma isn't written in stone. It is an organic, ever-evolving story of how our souls have learned to love ourselves and others here.
The word karma itself comes from the root karm, which in Sanskrit is the verb "to work," which is derived from kri,
meaning "to do." For instance, a "karma yogi" is one who works on
helping others. That's their "yoga," their union with Spirit.
Mother
Teresa is a famous example of a karma yogi, but there are countless
unsung heroes every day who work silently for the welfare of those
around them. With past lives, the concept of karma is used in the sense
that all of us work, from one lifetime to the next, on balancing our soul's energies. It's about cause and effect.
It's not always that past lives come up in a reading. Sometimes they do. Our souls are constantly evolving and even if one doesn't believe in the concept of past lives, just the story of a past life he or she has lived could be of great value due to its healing metaphors and lessons.
"The way a thing starts, is the way it will go, and the way it will end." -Venus Andrecht
An artist's interpretation of Vishuddha chakra.
I absolutely love that saying. Venus Andrecht is an intuitive reader who has a down-home, motherly way about her. She's that scolding but loving mother we all know and love. I'm not sure she actually thought up that saying herself, but the first time I heard it, she was the one who had spoken it, so I credited her with it.
But, it struck such a chord within me. Relative to my life experiences, I instantly took it as not merely a clever saying, but as a "truth." Invariably, I can say that the way a thing has started in my life, the tone it took from the very beginning, was in deed the way it continued to be as it progressed. And it tended to end the way it began.
And I have learned through brutal trial and error not to ignore any "hunch" I experience, through feelings or through visions, be they pleasant or unsettling. I've made so many mistakes by not listening to my hunches, not paying attention to my feelings and visions. The truth is, if it doesn't feel right to you in the beginning, it probably isn't right for you, whether it's a material thing, a person, a food of some sort, an event, or anything else that requires a decision on your part. Conversely, if it does feel like the right move to make, if it does feel like a healthy, loving direction in which to steer your life, then don't allow your analytical (and usually critical) "monkey mind" to talk you out of it; just go for it!
Often, we allow our chatty left brains to talk us out of what our wise, intuitive right brains are desperately trying to tell us, those sweet little Venus Andrechts sitting upon our shoulders trying to keep us true to ourselves. Speak your truth. Let your life reflect it.
What Not to Do
Fear is an interesting thing. Our fixation on it causes us to believe in or express untruths sometimes, the reasoning being, "I have to lie about this, because if I don't, I fear that that will happen." But we often learn in the end that in life, you just gotta deal with the consequence of speaking your inner truth. And there usually is a consequence of some sort. But owning up to your truth is part of "being an adult."
If you start something in a disingenuous way, that tone of deceptiveness will permeate the rest of the entire endeavor or relationship. You learn that this is what not to do, since eventually, someone will find you out and the deceptiveness you brought to the table in the beginning, is the very thing that "does you in" at the end. Or, along the way, you may actually get disgusted with yourself, which would actually be a good thing, a sign that your soul wants to live its truth, not live in lies anymore.
Holidays tend to bring out the best and worst in people, so they're a great chance to observe what to do, and what not to do. For example, one day a week or two before Christmas, this handsome, ostensibly intelligent guy walks into the metaphysical store where I work. He haphazardly stockpiles in his arms yoga- and meditation-related items. Anything we recommended he just picked up. He had no clue. At first, I and the other lady on the sales floor thought he was just an ambitious guy with good intentions, and his enthusiasm seemed, for a brief moment, charming.
But then, something didn't feel right about him. His presence began to feel kind of "seedy" to me and to the other lady, as I later found out when we compared notes. After a while, his true motivations began to slowly unravel. After admitting the items weren't for him, but for a woman he met, he then pulls me aside.
"OK, what do I get to get her, you know...." he mumbles.
"Get her what? Sorry, I'm not following you." By this time, my Creep-o-meter is beeping quite loudly.
As a psychiatrist, I have observed that relationships can be one of the major sources of exhaustion for my patients. In “Emotional Freedom” I discuss how to deal with different kinds of draining people to avoid getting fatigued, sick, or burned out. One of these is the control freak.
control experiments and projects. Nikola Tesla's research and development early in the 20th century provided the groundwork for the eventual creation of HAARP, an acronym for High Frequency Active Auroral Resonance Program.
stage of one’s lifetime in which one finds oneself, or the primary constitution of one’s physical body and mind. In terms of our body/minds then, the goal of ayurveda is to maintain a stasis between spirit (atma), mind (mana), emotions (indriya), and physical body (sharira). Ayurveda uses what we eat and drink, and other health-maintenance practices, as "tools" for establishing and maintaining that stasis. 
