Dalai Lama

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."

- Dalai Lama

Marianne Williamson

"Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognise how good things really are."

- Marianne Williamson

Machiavelli

"Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great."

- Machiavelli

Grounding the Documentary...my thoughts

We just watched the documentary movie about getting back in touch with Mother Earth called, Grounding. My husband and I were both touched by the powerful stories and the natural healing that is chronicled. 

Go to www.earthing.com to see it for $2.99...worth every penny and second you spend.

As a synchronicity...this movie and the products had been recommended by a friend who is a psychotherapist (and researcher of indigenous shamanistic healing) and by my yoga teacher.

I don't think you have to buy these products but for those that are staring into the face of a couple months of winter....it might be more convenient.

I believe in the power of 1st person testimonials so this documentary was believable ....check it out for yourself.

Henri Bergson

"To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly."

- Henri Bergson

Joseph Campbell

"I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be."

- Joseph Campbell

And if you have not watched the movie about him, The Hero's Journey, I HIGHLY recommend it. The movie is very well done and his philosophy is profound and he speaks to what I believe are core parts of our culture and a message I think everyone can benefit from. 

Also Bill Moyer has some excellent interviews of Joseph Campbell before he passed.

Vivek Paul

"We have to go for what we think we're fully capable of, not limit ourselves by what we've been in the past."

- Vivek Paul

Laozi

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

- Laozi

Eating on the Path of Enlightenment

I am on a wondrous path of trying to find my “truths” and have just started a Hatha Yoga class to help me focus and build my physical and mental strength.

As I was reading some of the yoga materials, it was strongly suggested that a vegetarian diet would enhance my experience and some other readings have suggested that vegetarianism is the only dietary choice on or to the path of enlightenment.

Synchronistically, I attended a public discussion of the spiritual benefits of vegetarian and vegan..."vegger" lifestyles….and one might also think that it was a “universal truth”.

The thing that got my attention was it is highly suggested (that night and from brief Internet research) that vegetarians and vegans take B12 supplements since there is not enough (if any) that comes from their diet and it is not manufactured in their body.

The question I had is if God (Creator, Source…) desires us to travel this path of enlightenment and we need to choose a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle…..why didn’t he/she gives us all that we need to thrive….in that dietary lifestyle?

At our weekly spiritual discussion group, I broached this question.  First, I said I didn’t want to offend any of the vegetarians or vegans in the room, but I didn’t understand this and needed input to help me find my truth.  We had an interesting discussion. 

It is not my intent to have an exhaustive debate of the merits of any dietary lifestyle, nor judgment of anyone else’s…I am only raising my question in my search for my truth.

On the pro vegetarian/vegan/"vegger" side of the discussion, I think for some people it could be a compassionate issue, sentient being issue, health, environment and spiritual, etc.  They did acknowledge the need for B12 and suggested some other supplements like zinc, etc.

On the carnivore side: health was mentioned; the circle of life; everything we eat is energy; biblically, God gave man dominion over plants and animals, etc.

This missing puzzle piece for me was the B12.

One point was brought out that man doesn’t need B12 to live but perhaps it is needed to live a longer life….is it a question of quality versus quantity of life?

We also talked about the people who don’t need food or water…I think the term is “breathers” comes to mind…who have won the war of mind versus stomach.  And the veggers who many not need B12…I an unclear if they have a natural store of B12 or if they manufacture it from their diet.  It is my understanding that B12 naturally comes from animal sources or from supplements.  For me, I don’t believe people can live or thrive without food and water so I quit listening when I hear that topic….until I meet someone who has incontrovertible evidence that they have survived for “years” without food and water.

Another point that rings so loudly within me…… the question was asked of me, who told you what to eat and why….. 

Anyway, B12 is fodder for some mental noodling for me.  

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Abraham Heschel

"Self-respect is the fruit of discipline: the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself."

- Abraham Heschel

Roy E Moody

"The greatest motivational act one person can do for another is to listen."

- Roy E Moody

Sun Tzu

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized."

- Sun Tzu

My Alpha-Stim Experience - Session 1

I have had chronic insomnia for many years.  I believe it was triggered by premenopausal hormone changes….but what really isn’t caused by hormone changes in your body?

I have been chasing sleep by trying everything I have heard on Dr. Oz, various books, various over the counter drugs, supplements, prescriptions, sleep hypnosis, meditation, pillows, essential oils, foods……a very long list.

I heard a man speak who researches indigenous shamanic practices from all over the world.  The man is fascinating to listen to.  He told a story this night of helping a young boy by using an Alpha-Stim machine.  He also mentioned that the machine had positive effect on anxiety, depression and insomnia.  I left that night and could not get it out of my head and was determined to try it.

About a week ago, we had an appointment and my husband witnessed my Alpha-Stim experience.  There is a bunch of stuff on the Internet about the Alpha-Stim machine that you can browse through.  The Alpha-Stim is controversial like so many alternative healing methods….so you need to figure out what is in your highest good.  It is also called cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES).  I was hooked up to the machine with ear clip electrodes that had been moistened with a conducting solution. 

In retrospect, I know I was anxious and had very high expectations about the session and I believe like so many things I have learned on my spiritual path….the  self-induced pressure (anxiety and high expectations) is not the most helpful to me and in some ways derails my progress.  In my own defense, I am also aware that there is a placebo effect….belief systems can support powerful healings…and it is also my understanding that pharmaceutical companies know about this and it plays a part in their studies.

Back to the session…I was hooked up in a seated position.  When the machine was turned on, I felt a gentle pressure on my earlobes and the feeling alternated between the ear lobes….and that is how the how session went.  I felt my body starting to sway back and forth and I opened my eyes to find out that the feeling was just in my head because my body was stationary, not swaying in my seat.  I could actually visualize an infinity sign between my ears….that is how the energy felt as it went back and forth.  

Immediately, at the onset of the session, I felt calmer with less anxiety.  I call it my woo-saw feeling.  It is very similar to the feeling I get when I close my eyes after a couple glasses of wine but without the hangover.  The feeling was very pleasant and I could have done it all afternoon. 

When I slow down and try to sleep, my brain is flooded with thoughts…generally stressful, like things to do, things I have done or should have done, pretty self-critical stuff.  During the session, it seemed the thoughts were much slower and more manageable…which is very similar to when I try to meditate, I can’t clear my mind and focus on nothing and difficulty just focusing on my breath.  This is where I tended to focus on my expectations…how much I wanted this session to cure all my ills, my insomnia, etc.  I think now that if I could have just allowed the session to do it’s thing, rather than mine, that it would have been more productive….that is what I learned from session 1.

It is my plan to have more sessions, perhaps buy a machine for home use.  There are many testimonials where people have used the alpha-stim machine and have had good results after using it during the day and it helps initiate and maintain sleep.  It is my understanding that they use it for several weeks to months and then stop as their insomnia lessons.

Stay tuned as I get more sessions.

Mother Teresa

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."

- Mother Teresa

Blaise Pascal

"The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know. We feel it in a thousand things."

- Blaise Pascal

Baltasar Gracian

"Make your friends your teachers and mingle the pleasures of conversation with the advantages of instruction."

- Baltasar Gracian

Lao Tzu

Frida Kahlo

"Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?"

- Frida Kahlo