Sunday, December 29, 2013

Thoughts can cause your genes to change

Scientists Finally Show How Your Thoughts Can Cause Specific Molecular Changes To Your Genes


With evidence growing that training the mind or inducing certain modes of consciousness can have positive health effects, researchers have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body. A new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France reports the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of intensive mindfulness practice.
The study investigated the effects of a day of intensive mindfulness practice in a group of experienced meditators, compared to a group of untrained control subjects who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities. After eight hours of mindfulness practice, the meditators showed a range of genetic and molecular differences, including altered levels of gene-regulating machinery and reduced levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper that shows rapid alterations in gene expression within subjects associated with mindfulness meditation practice,” says study author Richard J. Davidson, founder of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds and the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Most interestingly, the changes were observed in genes that are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs,” says Perla Kaliman, first author of the article and a researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona, Spain (IIBB-CSIC-IDIBAPS), where the molecular analyses were conducted.
The study was published in the Journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Mindfulness-based trainings have shown beneficial effects on inflammatory disorders in prior clinical studies and are endorsed by the American Heart Association as a preventative intervention. The new results provide a possible biological mechanism for therapeutic effects.
Gene Activity Can Change According To Perception
According to Dr. Bruce Lipton, gene activity can change on a daily basis. If the perception in your mind is reflected in the chemistry of your body, and if your nervous system reads and interprets the environment and then controls the blood’s chemistry, then you can literally change the fate of your cells by altering your thoughts.
In fact, Dr. Lipton’s research illustrates that by changing your perception, your mind can alter the activity of your genes and create over thirty thousand variations of products from each gene. He gives more detail by saying that the gene programs are contained within the nucleus of the cell, and you can rewrite those genetic programs through changing your blood chemistry.
In the simplest terms, this means that we need to change the way we think if we are to heal cancer. “The function of the mind is to create coherence between our beliefs and the reality we experience,” Dr. Lipton said. “What that means is that your mind will adjust the body’s biology and behavior to fit with your beliefs. If you’ve been told you’ll die in six months and your mind believes it, you most likely will die in six months. That’s called the nocebo effect, the result of a negative thought, which is the opposite of the placebo effect, where healing is mediated by a positive thought.”
That dynamic points to a three-party system: there’s the part of you that swears it doesn’t want to die (the conscious mind), trumped by the part that believes you will (the doctor’s prognosis mediated by the subconscious mind), which then throws into gear the chemical reaction (mediated by the brain’s chemistry) to make sure the body conforms to the dominant belief. (Neuroscience has recognized that the subconscious controls 95 percent of our lives.)
Now what about the part that doesn’t want to die–the conscious mind? Isn’t it impacting the body’s chemistry as well? Dr. Lipton said that it comes down to how the subconscious mind, which contains our deepest beliefs, has been programmed. It is these beliefs that ultimately cast the deciding vote.
“It’s a complex situation,” said Dr. Lipton. People have been programmed to believe that they’re victims and that they have no control. We’re programmed from the start with our mother and father’s beliefs. So, for instance, when we got sick, we were told by our parents that we had to go to the doctor because the doctor is the authority concerning our health. We all got the message throughout childhood that doctors were the authority on health and that we were victims of bodily forces beyond our ability to control. The joke, however, is that people often get better while on the way to the doctor. That’s when the innate ability for self-healing kicks in, another example of the placebo effect.
Mindfulness Practice Specifically Affects Regulatory Pathways
The results of Davidson’s study show a down-regulation of genes that have been implicated in inflammation. The affected genes include the pro-inflammatory genes RIPK2 and COX2 as well as several histone deacetylase (HDAC) genes, which regulate the activity of other genes epigenetically by removing a type of chemical tag. What’s more, the extent to which some of those genes were downregulated was associated with faster cortisol recovery to a social stress test involving an impromptu speech and tasks requiring mental calculations performed in front of an audience and video camera.
Biologists have suspected for years that some kind of epigenetic inheritance occurs at the cellular level. The different kinds of cells in our bodies provide an example. Skin cells and brain cells have different forms and functions, despite having exactly the same DNA. There must be mechanisms–other than DNA–that make sure skin cells stay skin cells when they divide.
Perhaps surprisingly, the researchers say, there was no difference in the tested genes between the two groups of people at the start of the study. The observed effects were seen only in the meditators following mindfulness practice. In addition, several other DNA-modifying genes showed no differences between groups, suggesting that the mindfulness practice specifically affected certain regulatory pathways.
The key result is that meditators experienced genetic changes following mindfulness practice that were not seen in the non-meditating group after other quiet activities — an outcome providing proof of principle that mindfulness practice can lead to epigenetic alterations of the genome.
Previous studies in rodents and in people have shown dynamic epigenetic responses to physical stimuli such as stress, diet, or exercise within just a few hours.
“Our genes are quite dynamic in their expression and these results suggest that the calmness of our mind can actually have a potential influence on their expression,” Davidson says.
“The regulation of HDACs and inflammatory pathways may represent some of the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic potential of mindfulness-based interventions,” Kaliman says. “Our findings set the foundation for future studies to further assess meditation strategies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions.”
Subconscious Beliefs Are Key
Too many positive thinkers know that thinking good thoughts–and reciting affirmations for hours on end–doesn’t always bring about the results that feel-good books promise.
Dr. Lipton didn’t argue this point, because positive thoughts come from the conscious mind, while contradictory negative thoughts are usually programmed in the more powerful subconscious mind.
“The major problem is that people are aware of their conscious beliefs and behaviors, but not of subconscious beliefs and behaviors. Most people don’t even acknowledge that their subconscious mind is at play, when the fact is that the subconscious mind is a million times more powerful than the conscious mind and that we operate 95 to 99 percent of our lives from subconscious programs.
“Your subconscious beliefs are working either for you or against you, but the truth is that you are not controlling your life, because your subconscious mind supersedes all conscious control. So when you are trying to heal from a conscious level–citing affirmations and telling yourself you’re healthy–there may be an invisible subconscious program that’s sabotaging you.”
The power of the subconscious mind is elegantly revealed in people expressing multiple personalities. While occupying the mind-set of one personality, the individual may be severely allergic to strawberries. Then, in experiencing the mind-set of another personality, he or she eats them without consequence.
The new science of epigenetics promises that every person on the planet has the opportunity to become who they really are, complete with unimaginable power and the ability to operate from, and go for, the highest possibilities, including healing our bodies and our culture and living in peace.
Article sources:
wisc.edu
brucelipton.com
ts-si.org
Michael Forrester is a spiritual counselor and is a practicing motivational speaker for corporations in Japan, Canada and the United States.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Law of the GarbageTruck

from Bob Procter's Insight of the Day

The Law of the Garbage Truck!

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life.
Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.
I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end.
I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it!
But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck®.” He said:
“Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”
So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”
I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.
One of my favorite football players of all time was Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Muhammad Ali, Nadia Comaneci, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.
See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.
So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck®, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad.
The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to greet their children with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.
What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?
Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier.
David J. Pollay

David J. Pollay is an acclaimed speaker and the creator and author of the international phenomenon, The Law of the Garbage Truck. You can find his best-selling book, The Law of the Garbage Truck: How to Stop People from Dumping On You by clicking here
Visit David online at www.davidpollay.com

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Ten Secrets to Happiness

We all have the desire to be happy and enjoy this amazing opportunity to be alive.  Yet, it just happens that sometimes we get distracted, side tracked, mesmerized or even addicted to something which makes us forget what brings real true joy into our lives. Below are 10 practical global secrets to happiness that are guaranteed to get you back on track, and bursting with love, lightness and laughter everyday!  This can feel like quite a mechanical approach to happiness, yet once we understand the mechanics of happiness, how it works and exactly what we need to do to create it, we can welcome it into our lives more and more each day.  Be sure to read the article to the end, as you'll discover the basic essential "Recipe for Happiness" that works for all human beings every time. Enjoy! 
1. Find Meaning in Life.  The word "meaning" in this context is all about our will to live in this world.  Meaning is the cornerstone of happiness. Without meaning, life is utterly empty and deprived of purpose.  When we have a good reason to get up in the morning, we feel excited about life and good about ourselves and the world. When we are aligned with our greater mission for being here, our life mission and soul purpose, we feel we have a real mission to attend to.  We may then want to leap out of bed and jump on our day to tackle new opportunities with zest and excitement! Meaning gives us motivation to move forward and enjoy the tremendous variety of experiences life is guaranteed to bring.
The first step to find meaning in your life, is find out what is truly important to you. What do you prioritize above everything else?  When you find out what this is, pour your time and energy into it! Most people find that what's important are their relationships.  Sure, we can find great meaning in our work, a hobby, traveling, serving the community, games, activities, recreation, and even sporting events. Yet, when we spend real quality time with our partner, our family, friends, a child, our parents, a lover, co-worker, or a lover who is a co-worker, it doesn't matter if we are not doing things we really enjoy doing.  When we can bond deeply with another, we feel connected and deeply loved and this brings us the greatest meaning in life.  We can find that through just being alone, holding hands with a friend in silence, the incredible spiritual depth of life pour naturally through, and the most ordinary moments become extremely meaningful and deeply enjoyable.
The second aspect to finding greater meaning in life involves developing a spiritual belief system (or an expansive way of understanding) that perceives the "bigger picture" of reality. This could simply be taking time to have a conversation with God, spending time alone, doing a healing ritual, creating a sacred space for praying, meditating or just laying out at the beach worshipping the Sun. When the mind feels connected to something that is bigger than itself, it tends to find meaning in the simplest of things.  When we have a real spiritual approach to life in place, we can endure the most painful challenges that life can bring. When we create a super strong spiritual connection to the Divine, then everything we say, hear and do comes from a place of tremendous meaning with a highly enlightening perspective behind it.
We don't have to know the grand spiritual "Meaning of Life" to find real happiness. We just have find meaning in our day with what we're doing and why we are doing it. Try it out.  See what happens to you by creating more meaning in the next 24 hours of your life?  Notice how you feel tomorrow by adding to your list just 5 more reasons to be excited about being alive. The more meaning you can find, the more you'll naturally desire to creatively engage in life and be a part of it. When we are eager to be involved in a more intimate experience of life, we end up manifesting a life that we love to live.
The great author Viktor Frankl wrote a book in 1946 called, "Mans Search for Meaning".  He talks about the people who survived the concentration camps, and who didn't survive and why.  He found that the survivors were not the ones who were the most physically fit, yet where the people who had the most meaning in their lives. They were devoted to surviving because they looked forward to seeing their husband, wife, children or loved ones again.  Some prisoners said they survived because they were passionate about preventing this travesty from ever happening again. Their will to live through such an insane torture didn't come from some fierce will power to be a survivor who could be tough and overcame any pain.  They made it because they believed if they could perhaps just make it through one more day, they may possibly reunite with that one thing they gave them a true heart felt loving connection.
2. Positive Emotion. This may seem obvious, yet sometimes we aren't always conscious if we are feeling, thinking and behaving in a positive way. Positive thoughts leads to positive feelings, and this blossoms into an overall feeling of contentment and happiness by the days end.  This approach is almost mathematical in that there must be a larger sum of positive emotions than negative ones for the overall sensation of inner happiness to manifest itself. We must realize that spending one minute fretting and worrying about something, is 60 seconds of lost happiness we could've been having.  When we find a way to tip our emotional scale towards the sea of positive emotions throughout the day, we can feel as if we're floating in an ocean of joy by the end of each day. By creating the habit of inventing more positive feelings than negative on an hour-by-hour basis, there will be a good feeling of happiness inside our soul by the time we go to bed. 
It's important to know that tipping the scale towards the positive doesn't mean we are trying to escape from the negative emotions. The happiest people in the world are the ones who willingly welcome and can even enjoy the full range of human emotion. The most fulfilled people on the planet still experience guilt, shame, grief, anger, and never try to escape those emotions. They embrace everything that arises as a gift from the divine.  If we truly want to become "fulfillionaires" in this life, we need total freedom, which means access to the full range of emotions to choose from.
The first strategy to embracing any negative emotion is finding what is good about it. The more you can embrace the negative, the more you bounce back into the positive. The more you try to avoid the negative, the more it clings to you like superglue. So what is the hardest negative emotion for you to handle?  Which one do you resist the most?  Fear, shame, guilt, anger or maybe sadness?  Diving into the emotion see where the pendulum will swing when its over and starts creating a positive emotion for you. 
Another strategy to create positive emotions are creating more time doing things that make you smile. Things like watching a funny movie, visiting a good friend who makes you laugh, getting a massage, making love, going for a sunset walk, or reading an enlightening article are all great ideas.  Perhaps you like to do the unordinary, and are into preparing a raw food dinner, walking through the forest barefoot, or playing silly imaginary games with the kids next door.  Whatever it is that lifts you up needs to be a priority in your schedule. Just put those things that give you positive emotion higher on the priority list, and when you're doing it, be mindful about it.
Being mindful is huge in the world of happiness because it means that when you're walking barefoot at the beach, you are truly there at the beach. You are not thinking about the sale at the shopping mall or the list of all the other things you should be doing while you're relaxing at the beach.  When you're mindful you are fully present to the wind, sun, sand, water and warmth. You're smelling the fresh ocean breeze so deeply that it touches the back of your brain!  The secret here is using all 5 senses to take in your full beach experience, as if it was for the first or last time you'll ever be there.  When we are using all our bodily senses that we can truly tap into the most positive healing emotions which bring us real happiness and make our heart's sing!
3. Utilizing your Potential. This secret is all about realizing and utilizing your innate strengths. Your strengths are those natural abilities that you were born with, or learned at some point in your life and that you still enjoy doing. If you don't know what your innate strengths are, simply look at what you love to do. What did you do last year that you remember loving more than anything else?  Notice what your heart is drawn to doing out of love instead of retracting out of need, greed or fear. Ask yourself, "Really , what is my bliss?" and this will be a place of energy and deep fulfillment for you. Discover what ignites you, fascinates you and pulls your chain.  This is where your greatest potential will casually be hiding.  When you discover the place of perpetual curiosity about life, the most normal of days soon become the most delicious and amazing days of all.
As we practicing using our ability to see the potential within ourselves, within others, within an opportunity or situation, we can feel unstoppable in anything that we do. We then become happy to be of service to the world, helping humanity be a better place because we are simply singing a better song.  Of course humanity will greatly appreciate it and you'll feel wonderful about yourself!  Being appreciated by those you look up to for doing things that you love doing, is a secret formula for an instant surge of happiness. It may not last long yet we stop being motivated by feelings of fear, and boldly move forward living a helpful life that we can really love.
Fear is powerful and can stop us from finding happiness very quickly. Yet if you focus on the potential in a situation the fear simply is hidden from view.  For example, let's say you may move into a new house, and the neighbor invites you for dinner and initially you feel shy and afraid to meet these new people.  Yet, if you see the potential in the connection, in the new relationship and what you'll learn from opening up to it, then you'll become super eager to join them for dinner and end up gifting them wine and dessert!  If you can see every person and situation as having unlimited potential, then you won't be afraid of anything.  You'll naturally be excited about whatever it is you're doing and see everything as a living breathing adventure.
 4. Having healthy relationships. Studies have proven that the happiest people in the world have deep intimate meaningful relationships that they love. When we hang out with people who respect us, treat us with love, compassion, empathy, kindness and support we walk away feeling lighter, freer and more alive!  Find out WHO these people are in your life, and pour your time and energy into them! Stop giving your energy to those who don't appreciate you.  This is HUGE and will shift everything!  You may need to put a time boundary around those people who don't make you feel good about yourself, or stop seeing them at all.  Eventually, they will intuitively figure out that they need to shift and become a more positive open minded person if they want to continue hanging out with you.
It's good to remember that even the healthiest and best of loving relationships need work. A healthy loving relationship needs a constant flow of quality time together, deep listening, a feeling of congruence, and radical honesty. You're just spinning your wheels if you're always trying to keep the peace with your mate and holding deep resentments inside.  This buildup eventual smothers any love that was there initially. Real happiness in intimate relationships means radical honesty and embodying an attitude of gratitude about your partner. This brings a complete deep feeling of respect for the other person. When you give your partner this energy, it then becomes easy to give it to yourself.
One of the greatest hidden secrets to creating healthy relationships with others is having quality alone time with yourself. When you have enough time alone, you look forward to seeing your partner, feeling that you miss them and yearn to be closer. This desire for our partner cannot be created if we're always connected at the hip.  We need space to explore ourselves and find a deeper state of gratitude for the person who loves us.  It's my experience that when we spend 1/3 of our time alone, we naturally deepen on our spiritual path and effortlessly manifest the most amazing relationships of our lives.  This may seem like a lot, yet try it out and you'll see that your time spent with your partner feels like you're connecting with them again for the very first time.
5. Having success, achievement, accomplishments everyday.  We human beings love to feel that we are moving forward with our lives and doing something productive with our time here. Many of us have this burning need for "achievement euphoria" which is this little shot of dopamine to the brain that instantly creates positive emotion the moment we finally complete an enduring project. Studies have shown that when people talk about the happiest times in their lives, they usually share memories about their big life dreams or visions they manifested.  They feel they achieved something great in their lives and this is what made them extra happy. The secret to this formula is tricky in that we can get stuck in chasing success and feel that we will never arrive.  Chasing success cannot bring happiness, and can become an addiction if we don't understand what it is we are really seeking.  When instead we choose to fulfill our potential in life, focus on the positive emotions we love, then success becomes a natural by product of our highest potentiality being filled. They say, "Do what you love and the money will follow" and in this case it's more like, "Fulfill your highest potential and the money will find you!"
6. Engagement with Life.  Being engaged in life means we are doing an activity, and our actions and awareness are merged as one.  The means we are no longer separate from what we're doing, yet rather pushed up to the edge of our ability to merge with life and feel that each moment could just be the greatest moment we could be achieving. Whenever we push ourselves too far beyond our abilities, we experience a rush of anxiety and fear.  When we fall beneath our abilities we experience boredom, lethargy, depression and lack of motivation. The key is to find that balanced level of activity which challenges us, yet also is enough to give us a sense of purpose, achievement and meaning.
When we are merged with life, conscious actions take over mindless activities, and we feel we are some kind of "flow" with life. They call it living in "the zone" and it is a place where we can easily access the timeless soul we truly are. We are flowing in the zone when hours have passed and it seems like minutes. When we are soooo ridiculously inspired about something we have forgotten entirely about the world. It's possible to find our own flow zone in anything and everything we do in life.  We can find it in a normal conversation, going to work, doing art, sports, music, etc. The zone just shows up when we surrender to the natural flowing river of life.  It just seems to take us, especially when stop paddling so hard up or downstream.
Another form of being engaged in life is participating more in the community around us.  When we are actively a part of other peoples lives, we feel connected to the greater whole and this brings us peace.  Studies show that the most unhappy people in the world live very isolated separate lives, and are not actively engaged in their community or relationships with others. Engagement is an integral part of true mental health and it is a powerful way to instantly bring out happiness from the depths. We naturally discover this communal flow while engaging in conscious healing activities in our community.  Doing this on a weekly or daily basis we've tapped into a goldmine that can feed our soul a lifetime of communal pleasure.
7. Balance and moderation. When you discover something in life that you truly love, it can be a bit tempting to throw yourself into it and only it.  When something brings us real joy, positive emotion, deep meaning and even ecstatic orgasm, and we start doing that thing far too often, then we lose the joy it once brought us. That first piece of chocolate birthday cake will taste amazing, yet the 30th piece would probably make you heave.  We must approach everything in life with a sense of moderation, and this includes moderation.  This is the path to real balance which is where a deep contentment in life will naturally bubble up from. 
Having balance is also about being moderate with our level of attachment to this world. Everything in life will one day be taken away from us, so be careful of not getting too attached to anything of this world. It is a fast and highly transecient world we live in.  People, places and things will often not look or feel the same as they did a few years ago. If you get attached to and dependant upon any one thing, job, person or achievement for your main source of joy, this approach will one day lead to devastation. The person who only can find their bliss through work, becomes lost the day they get sick or have an injury and cannot work anymore. They instantly feel as they have no place to turn for purpose and meaning.  The secret here is finding some level of meaning and joy through every one, and everything that we do.
8. A Bright Future to Look Forward To.  There is no reason to live life if we believe the future is destined for failure, pain and suffering. The key word here is "believe" in that our beliefs are simply ideas that we've surrounded with a great story and lots of emotion.  For example, if you strongly believe at the end of tour work week you will go out to see the greatest movie that you love to watch, you can look forward to this amazing film all week and there will be a sense of joy constantly following you.  If you plan a trip next month to an exotic destination that you've always wanted to visit, you'll find great anticipation and excitement are with you every week of the way. We need a sense of hope in life, and a future to believe in, a destiny to look forward to if we are to jump out of bed with sparkles in our eyes. True long term happiness in life is real, and it takes work and real creative effort. Whatever we put into it, equals exactly what we'll get out of it. When we consciously project a deep sense of meaning, purpose and pleasure into our future, we will discover our present is richer, more alive and is giving us something worth getting jazzed up about!
9. Being Aware of the Happiness Trap.  All of this talk about happiness can make us think that the more we pursue it and attain it, the happier we will be. Be careful because this is the big trap!  Think about those people who have that plastic "perma-grin" on their face and are always "smiling" ear to ear.  Their happiness is false, fake and not authentic at the core.  Sure we can flip our frown upside down one moment to see a friend, and find that it instantly changes a doom and gloom mood we had all day. Yet, when we are always putting on a happy show for the world, thinking that this will get us what we want in life, we end up believing that we always need to have a constant stream of positive things to keep our happy boat afloat.
The constant desire for positive emotion and pleasurable things is a trap.  If we fall into it we will always be searching, seeking and yearning for happiness and never actually arriving. It is not realistic or healthy for us to think we need to be experiencing fun, joy or positivity in every single moment of our lives. Life is much much bigger than this!  Life contains a multi-dimensional exploration of our spiritual essence that is hidden within a framework of the physical duality. Say that one ten times fast! This life is meant to offer us something more than just a hamburger helper three dimensional perspective. When we attain access to the whole range of human feelings, we end up finding our true spiritual nature inside, and can feel we are arriving in fields of happiness while doing the smallest and simplest of things.
10. The Basic Recipe for Happiness. If for some horrible reason you pushed and pounded your way through this article and tomorrow morning you wake up miserable, anxious, or rushing through your life and cannot remember a single thing about how to become happy, write down this simple recipe for happiness and stick it on your refrigerator door!  Its super easy and highly effective at getting things going in the right direction. 
Happiness is having someone to love,
something fun to do every day,
and something to look forward to. 
It really is that simple.  Once we integrate these three basic things into our every day lives, we can stop trying to find happiness and will realize that it has found us. We must realize that having someone to love is all about deepening our connection with our partner, and not just jumping into bed with every new person we meet.  When we create long lasting loving friendships, we find that they serve as our emotional support system as we grow and age. If you cannot find a mate, they say that even having an animal to love and care for will do.  Just having someone to love is powerful, and will create enough desire and inspiration in a person dying with terminal cancer to remain alive.
Happiness is connected to everything, and it is what connects us to everyone.  It is an infinite resource that will always be there for us. Meaning every part of our lives has an infinite amount of potential happiness connected to it. We can find unending happiness in our health, relationships, work, money, leisure, etc.  When we simply put a little love and energy into it, we find it returns back to us in the most unique ways.  As you've seen, there are many paths to finding a sense of well being and joy in our lives.  When we can imagine and envision ourselves being happy everyday, we will soon manifest it and learn how to creatively sustain it along the way. This is our point of access, our entrance to a state of inner heaven that is with us everywhere we are.   I hope you enjoyed this article and were able to take something valuable from it with you. 
Much love to you,
 
Jafree Ozwald
 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

A live changing freebie!

We've got something wonderful for you today -
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"The Envisioning Method".
 
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Click Display Images to see this image.
 
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Sunday, September 22, 2013

Insomnia

Insomnia?   Here are three tips from Meir Kryger, MD author of the e-book The iGuide to Sleep.

Find your number. Toss out the 8 hours a night rule and figure out your own sweet spot. "Before any coffee, take stock of how you feel twenty minutes after waking.  If "rotten" is the answer, hit the hay earlier tonight."

Wind down well.  Get a burst of energy around 10:00 pm?  Don't spend it wound up watching Homeland.  Instead take a warm bath or do a little reading. Do something relaxing. Same goes for computer work. If it is stimulating, save it for another time. Nix the wine at least 3 hours before bedtime. While it may help you fall asleep, once the effect wears off, it can actually keep you from sleeping.

Snack savvy.  Don't go to bed hungry!  Dairy is high in the amino acid tryptophan, which can help produce the serotonin in the brain that triggers sleep. The B6 in complex carbs also boosts serotonin so before bed, try snacking on a bowl of cereal and skim milk.


Acupuncture has proven helpful for insomniacs.  Or try acupressure, acupuncture without the needles.  The following sites show the pressure points.



http://sleepdisordersplace.com/acupressure-for-insomnia-getting-to-the-point

http://blog.massagebyheather.com/massage-for-insomnia-acupressure/

http://www.herbalshop.com/Acupressure/Acupressure_07.html

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Activate gray matter by doing good for others

****************************************
 from Paul R. Scheele
****************************************
Doing good for others not only makes your heart grow warm, it activates your gray matter too.
The more altruistic you behave, the more gray matter you have in a region of the brain linked to empathy, says a study in the journal Neuron.
When researchers from the University of Zurich set out to determine why some people are selfish and others altruistic, they discovered a strong connection between the volume of gray matter in this region of the brain and one's propensity for giving.
"People who behaved more altruistically had a higher proportion of gray matter at the junction between the parietal and temporal lobes," said Yosuke Morishima, a postdoctoral researcher and team member.
Volunteers in the study were asked to divide money between themselves and an anonymous other person. They had the option of sacrificing a certain portion of the money for the benefit of the other person, and thus at their own expense. Some were almost never willing to sacrifice money to benefit others while others behaved very altruistically.
In selfish people, this small region behind the ears became active when the cost of the altruistic behavior was low, as seen in MRI scans. In altruistic folks, it only became more active when the cost was very high. It becomes active when people reach the limits of their willingness to give, suspected the researchers, because that's when "there is the greatest need to overcome man's natural self-centeredness by activating this brain region."
Lead researcher Ernst Fehr noted that altruism is not determined by biological factors alone. The volume of gray matter is also influenced by social processes, he said, suggesting it may be possible to promote the development of the brain in this way.
It is, believes best-selling author Marci Shimoff, creator of our Happy for No Reason course. And studies show engaging in activities to help others can increase your own happiness and inspire you to greater achievements. She recommends cultivating an attitude of service.
"Every day for the next few weeks, look for some ways to help someone else. It does not have to be a big 'cause.' It could be offering someone a ride, helping someone across the street, or listening to someone who needs attention," she said.
"As you start looking at your life through the eyes of making a contribution, you may be surprised by the number of opportunities to serve that you come across each day," says Marci. "Take advantage of as many as possible, knowing that by making a difference in someone's life you make a difference in your own life, too."
Altruism is the largest resource for self-change according to studies by Masanori Kanda, a best-selling author and executive trainer in Japan.
In fact, it plays a key role in his unique method of goal achievement called "Future Mapping" that is generating incredible results for leading corporations, entrepreneurs, and government officials throughout Japan.
When you simultaneously set a goal for yourself and you commit to helping someone else become happy, your own self-interest—and all the baggage that comes with it—drops away. Suddenly hidden resources within you that are critical to accomplishing your own task begin to surface in ways that are truly surprising.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

When is the best time to meditate?

From The Good Life...
 
When is the best time to meditate? This is a frequently asked question. Here’s a great reply from Ta-tsu-wa who is widely recognized as highly knowledgeable about the subjects of meditation and entrainment…

The biggest obstacle most folks new to meditation encounter is sitting down consistently for meditation at all. They tend to be hit and miss in their practice which is a great part of the reason so many report lack of success with meditation. The benefits of meditation are cumulative, not just over the course of a few days, weeks, months or years, but over one's entire lifetime. Inconsistent practice yields equally inconsistent results. So for newcomers it's true that the best time for meditation is whenever you can find or make the time, but that should happen more or less every day. It's far better to practice at a different time each day than it is to always practice at the same time but to manage practicing only 1 or 2 days per week. 
Like the Nike slogan says, "Just do it."

Is there "a best time" in any absolute sense? I don't believe so. Everyone is unique and meditation practice reflects this uniqueness. Some teachers advise always doing your practice in the morning, some say before the sun rises, others say do it at night before bed. Every teacher has an opinion based in part on how they were taught and in part on how things have worked out in their own practice. I cannot find any substantiation for the idea that there is one "most perfect" time of day for meditation.
I believe there is a rough pattern to how our meditation practice develops over the course of our life.
For beginners, do it whenever you can find or make time but do it as close to every day as you can manage so that it becomes a habit.
Once you become somewhat proficient at the art of meditation you will probably find it helpful to pick a particular time each day and try to be consistent in practicing at that time. I think that preference will vary from individual with some preferring mornings, some evenings, others at various times throughout the mid portion of the day.
When your practice has deepened sufficiently you will likely revert back to meditation quite naturally throughout the day at any time.”
I don’t think anyone wants to live with anger, resentment, guilt or any other debilitating emotions that create self imposed limitations and insecurity. Just a few minutes a day, following the above advice for 21 days will cultivate your awareness and insight. As you allow your burdens to fall away you will be free to enjoy the life you were meant to live; a life filled with new perspectives; new ideas; new peace of mind; a new you.

Yours for HUGE success,


Michael Mackenzie

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Benefits of a Spiritual Life



While those who believe in a loving divinity are more likely to be happier and healthier than those who don’t,  you don’t have to subscribe to any particular religion or even believe in a higher power to reap the benefits of being more spiritual. Although traditional institutional religious settings offer the benefit of community linked by shared belief, you can also improve your health by being more spiritual in your own way. Spirituality, which has been defined by social scientists as the search for the sacred, can still offer health benefits, as you acknowledge and appreciate the sacred in life— the holiness of nature, the blessing of children, the perception of your work as a calling, the body as a vessel for love in the world, the sanctity of marriage. By imbuing the ordinary with extraordinary qualities, you open yourself up to transcendence, which can elicit relaxation in the body, leading to more happiness and, subsequently, better health.
Spiritual people are also happier, have better mental health, use fewer drugs and alcohol, have better coping skills, and live longer than those who don’t consider themselves spiritual. 
Keep in mind that religion isn’t all roses when it comes to the effect on your health. Like all facets of life, your spiritual life has the potential to stress you out as well as relax you. People for whom religion stirs up feelings of guilt, shame, repression, and fear of recrimination from a punishing God are more likely to experience repetitive stress responses, which result in poor health. 
So it’s not just spiritual life that can heal you, it’s the right kind of spiritual life, one that is aligned with the truth of what is sacred for you.
from Mind Over Medicine: Proof You Really Can Heal Yourself

A Blessing

A Prosperity Blessing

May you be blessed with an amazingly abundant day today!
May the clouds break and the heavens pour down upon you more joy, more love, more laughter and more money than you could have ever dreamed of.
May the sun shine its golden light of prosperity through every cell of your extraordinary body.
May you be cleansed today of any resistance or feelings of unworthiness that you may still be holding onto.
May your false illusions of doubt, fear and scarcity gently fall away like soft white feathers on a gentle breeze.
May you be willing, simply willing, to allow the Universe to shower you with miracles today.
May the Angels wrap you in their shining wings of opulence.
May the fairies deliver you to their pot of gold at the end of a majestic rainbow.
May your eyes shine with the glorious truth of who you really are and may that truth uplift others in your presence to their own inner knowing.
May your ears hear the sound of perfection ringing in your soul.
May you taste the deliciousness of every precious bite of life as your day unfolds moment by moment with amazing grace, heartfelt love and a bounty of magnificent money.
As this day ends, may you slumber wrapped in an exquisite blanket of enduring peace and profound gratitude.
And may the last words you speak today be Thank You!
 
Veronica M. Hay
Copyright 2004

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Science and Your Brain. Powers of Meditaion

From OM To OMG: Science, Your Brain, And The Productive Powers Of Meditation

Using fMRI scans, we can now see what meditation does to the brain. The author suggests it can lead to a happier, more productive, and creative life. And even two minutes a day can do wonders.



Ever since my dad tried to convince me to meditate when I was about 12, I’ve been fairly skeptical of this practice. It always seemed to be so vague and hard to understand that I just decided it wasn’t for me.


More recently, I’ve actually found how simple (not easy, but simple) meditation can be and what a huge benefit it can have for my day-to-day happiness. As an adult, I first started my meditation practice with just two minute per day. Two minutes! I got that idea from Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits blog, where he points out how starting with a tiny habit is the first step to consistently achieving it. So even thought two minutes won’t make much difference, that’s where I started.
Whether you’re as skeptical as I used to be, or you’re well ahead of me with a meditation habit of several hours, I think it’s always interesting to find out how new habits affect our brains. I had a look into meditation to see what’s going on inside our brains when we do this, and what I found is pretty interesting.

What is meditation?

There are different ways to meditate, and since it’s such a personal practice there are probably more than any of us know about. There are a couple that are usually focused on heavily in scientific research, though. These are focused-attention, or mindful meditation, which is where you focus on one specific thing--it could be your breathing, a sensation in your body or a particular object outside of you. The point of this type of meditation is to focus strongly on one point and continually bring your attention back to that focal point when it wanders.
The other type of meditation that’s often used in research is open-monitoring meditation. This is where you pay attention to all of the things happening around you--you simply notice everything without reacting.

What happens in your brain when you meditate

This is where things get really interesting. Using modern technology like fMRI scans, scientists have developed a more thorough understanding of what’s taking place in our brains when we meditate, kind of similar to how scientists have previously looked at measuring creativity in our brains.
The overall difference is that our brains stop processing information as actively as they normally would. We start to show a decrease in beta waves, which indicate that our brains are processing information, even after a single 20-minute meditation session if we’ve never tried it before.
In the image below you can see how the beta waves (shown in bright colors on the left) are dramatically reduced during meditation (on the right).
Below is the best explanation I found of what happens in each part of the brain during meditation:

Frontal lobe

This is the most highly evolved part of the brain, responsible for reasoning, planning, emotions and self-conscious awareness. During meditation, the frontal cortex tends to go offline.

Parietal lobe

This part of the brain processes sensory information about the surrounding world, orienting you in time and space. During meditation, activity in the parietal lobe slows down.

Thalamus

The gatekeeper for the senses, this organ focuses your attention by funneling some sensory data deeper into the brain and stopping other signals in their tracks. Meditation reduces the flow of incoming information to a trickle.

Reticular formation

As the brain’s sentry, this structure receives incoming stimuli and puts the brain on alert, ready to respond. Meditating dials back the arousal signal.

How meditation affects us

Now that we know what’s going on inside our brains, let’s take a look at the research into the ways it affects our health. It’s in fact very similar to how exercising affects our brains.
Better focus
Because meditation is a practice involving focusing our attention and being aware of when it drifts, this actually improves our focus when we’re not meditating, as well. It’s a lasting effect that comes from regular periods of meditation.
Focused attention is very much like a muscle, one that needs to be strengthened through exercise.
Less anxiety
This point is pretty technical, but it’s really interesting. The more we meditate, the less anxiety we have, and it turns out this is because we’re actually loosening the connections of particular neural pathways. This sounds bad, but it’s not.
What happens without meditation is that there’s a section of our brains that’s sometimes called the Me Center (it’s technically the medial prefrontal cortex). This is the part that processes information relating to ourselves and our experiences. Normally the neural pathways from the bodily sensation and fear centers of the brain to the Me Center are really strong. When you experience a scary or upsetting sensation, it triggers a strong reaction in your Me Center, making you feel scared and under attack.
When we meditate, we weaken this neural connection. This means that we don’t react as strongly to sensations that might have once lit up our Me Centers. As we weaken this connection, we simultaneously strengthen the connection between what’s known as our Assessment Center (the part of our brains known for reasoning) and our bodily sensation and fear centers. So when we experience scary or upsetting sensations, we can more easily look at them rationally. Here’s a good example:
For example, when you experience pain, rather than becoming anxious and assuming it means something is wrong with you, you can watch the pain rise and fall without becoming ensnared in a story about what it might mean.
More creativity
As a writer, this is one thing I’m always interested in and we’ve explored the science of creativity in depth before. Unfortunately, it’s not the easiest thing to study, but there is some research into how meditation can affect our creativity. Researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands studied both focused-attention and open-monitoring mediation to see if there was any improvement in creativity afterwards. They found that people who practiced focused-attention meditation did not show any obvious signs of improvement in the creativity task following their meditation. For those who did open-monitoring meditation, however, they performed better on a task that asked them to come up with new ideas.
More compassion
Research on meditation has shown that empathy and compassion are higher in those who practice meditation regularly. One experiment showed participants' images of other people that were either good, bad or neutral in what they called “compassion meditation.” The participants were able to focus their attention and reduce their emotional reactions to these images, even when they weren’t in a meditative state. They also experienced more compassion for others when shown disturbing images.
Part of this comes from activity in the amygdala--the part of the brain that processes emotional stimuli. During meditation, this part of the brain normally shows decreased activity, but in this experiment it was exceptionally responsive when participants were shown images of people.
Another study in 2008 found that people who meditated regularly had stronger activation levels in their temporal parietal junctures (a part of the brain tied to empathy) when they heard the sounds of people suffering, than those who didn’t meditate.
Better memory
One of the things meditation has been linked to is improving rapid memory recall. Catherine Kerr, a researcher at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the Osher Research Center found that people who practiced mindful meditation were able to adjust the brain wave that screens out distractions and increase their productivity more quickly that those that did not meditate. She said that this ability to ignore distractions could explain “their superior ability to rapidly remember and incorporate new facts.” This seems to be very similar to the power of being exposed to new situations that will also dramatically improve our memory of things.
Less stress
Mindful meditation has been shown to help people perform under pressure while feeling less stressed. A 2012 study split a group of human resources managers into three, with one-third participating in mindful meditation training, another third taking body relaxation training and the last third given no training at all. A stressful multitasking test was given to all the managers before and after the eight-week experiment. In the final test, the group that had participated in the meditation training reported less stress during the test than both of the other groups.
More gray matter
Meditation has been linked to larger amounts of gray matter in the hippocampus and frontal areas of the brain. I didn’t know what this meant at first, but it turns out it’s pretty great. More gray matter can lead to more positive emotions, longer-lasting emotional stability and heightened focus during daily life.
Meditation has also been shown to diminish age-related effects on gray matter and reduce the decline of our cognitive functioning.

Getting started with Meditation


Here’s a great infographic that gives an overview of the different kinds of meditation and some tips for fitting in meditation at work.
An awesome app to get started with meditation--Getheadspace
Note from Leo: One of the best apps I’ve come across to help you get started with Meditation is called Headspace. Invented by a former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe, this is meditation geared towards busy people like you and me.
The way it works is that Andy guides you through 10 minutes of simple meditation every day. You don’t have to do anything, just sit down and turn on the app and let Andy’s calm voice (his voice is truly amazing--the app is worth trying just for that!) explain to you how to approach meditation.
The best part about the app is of course that it’s completely free! For any beginning meditator, this is the best option I’ve come across to start reaping the amazing benefits of meditation and start on a new path to a happier life.

 

Saturday, August 31, 2013

It is a Conspiracy



The Spiritual "Conspiracy"

On the surface of our world right now
There is war, violence, and craziness
And things may seem dark.

But calmly and quietly
At the same time
Something is happening underground.

An inner revolution is taking place
And certain individuals
Are being called to a higher light.

It is a silent revolution
From the inside out
From the ground up.

This is a global co-operation
That has sleeper cells in every nation.
It is a planetary Spiritual Conspiracy.

You won’t likely see us on T.V.
You won’t read about us in the newspaper.
You won’t hear from us on the radio. We don’t seek glory.
We don’t wear any uniform.
We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles.

We are in every country and culture of the world
In cities big and small, mountains and valleys
In farms and villages, tribes and remote islands.

Most of us work anonymously
Seeking not recognition of name
But profound transformation of life.
Working quietly behind the scenes

You could pass by one of us on the street
And not even notice.
We go undercover
Not concerned for who takes the final credit
But simply that the work gets done.

Many of us may seem to have normal jobs.
But behind the external storefront
Is where the deeper work takes a place.
With the individual and collective power
Of our minds and hearts
We spread passion, knowledge, and joy to all.

Some call us the Conscious Army
As together
We co-create a new world.

Our orders come from the Spiritual Intelligence Agency
Instructing us to drop soft, secret love bombs
when no one is looking. Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music
Photography ~Smiles ~Kind words
Movies ~ Meditation and prayer ~ Dance ~ Websites
Social activism ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness…

We each express ourselves
In our own unique ways
With our own unique gifts and talents.
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
That is the motto that fills our hearts.

We know this is the path to profound transformation.
We know that quietly and humbly
Individually and collectively
We have the power of all the oceans combined.

At first glance our work is not even visible.
It is slow and meticulous
Like the formation of mountains.
And yet with our combined efforts
Entire tectonic plates
Are being shaped and moved for centuries to come.

Love is the religion we come to share
And you don’t need to be highly educated
Or have exceptional knowledge to understand it.

Love arises from the intelligence of the heart
Embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse
Of all living beings.

Be the change you want to see in the world.
Nobody else can do it for you.
Yet don’t forget, we are all here supporting you.

We are now recruiting.
Perhaps you will join us
Or already have.
For in this spiritual conspiracy
All are welcome, and all are loved.
The door is always open.

~ Brian Piergrossi


Friday, August 30, 2013

Making a difference

Listening to politicians’ nasty rhetoric, one might think that leadership has to be aggressive and confrontational, but consider this parable about leadership.
A student assigned to write an essay about an effective leader wrote this story:
“I’ve been taking a bus to school for years. Most passengers keep to themselves and no one ever talks to anyone else.
“About a year ago, an elderly man got on the bus and said loudly to the driver, ‘Good morning!’ Most people looked up, annoyed, and the bus driver just grunted. The next day the man got on at the same stop and again he said loudly, ‘Good morning!’ to the driver. Another grunt. By the fifth day, the driver relented and greeted the man with a semi-cheerful ‘Good morning!’ The man announced, ‘My name is Benny,’ and asked the driver, ‘What’s yours?’ The driver said his name was Ralph.
“That was the first time any of us heard the driver’s name and soon people began to talk to each other and say hello to Ralph and Benny. Soon Benny extended his cheerful ‘Good morning!’ to the whole bus. Within a few days his ‘Good morning!’ was returned by a whole bunch of ‘Good mornings’ and the entire bus seemed to be friendlier. People got to know each other.
“If a leader is someone who makes something happen, Benny was our leader in friendliness.
“A month ago, Benny didn’t get on the bus and we haven’t seen him since. Everyone began to ask about Benny and lots of people said he may have died. No one knew what to do and the bus got awful quiet again.
“So last week, I started to act like Benny and say, ‘Good morning!’ to everyone and they cheered up again. I guess I’m the leader now. I hope Benny comes back to see what he started.”
Remember, character counts.
Michael Josephson
www.whatwillmatter.com

Friday, August 23, 2013

Just Ask

Better to Ask than Assume

The late Bill Love used to tell the story of a psychiatrist, engineer, and doctor who got lost in the Canadian woods. Stumbling on a trapper's cabin but getting no response at the door, they went inside for shelter and waited for his return.
In the corner, on a crude platform at waist-high level, was a wood-burning stove. It quickly became not only the focus of interest for their half-frozen bodies but the center of their conversation as well.
The psychiatrist explained the stove's unusual position as evidence of psychological problems brought on by isolation. The engineer, on the other hand, saw it as an ingenious form of forced-air heating. The physician surmised the poor fellow had arthritis and found it too painful to bend over to fuel his stove.
When the trapper finally arrived, they could not resist asking about the stove whose warmth had saved them. "Simple," he said. "My stove pipe was too short."
I wasn't along for that hunting trip, but I've been where those guys were that day. I've tried to read someone's mind. I've seen motives that weren't there. I've walked into situations, caught a snippet of what was happening, and made a fool of myself by some badly chosen response. Or I've used a perfectly innocent slip of the tongue as my excuse to take offense. I can be a real jerk at times!
On occasion, the victim has been a stranger. At other times, it was a friend from church or colleague at work. Most often, it has been my wife or child.
Communication is a wonderful thing - when it happens. But there are so many barriers. Each of us brings baggage to every situation. Words can be vague or carry very different nuances for people from different backgrounds. Then there are the prejudices and blind spots all of us have.
Lots of confusion could be eliminated and far more progress made this week by following this simple rule: When something isn't clear, ask. Don't assume. Don't guess. Don't mind-read. Try swallowing your pride and say, "I'm not sure I understand. Do you mind explaining that to me?"
This simple strategy could save you embarrassment, time, and money. More important still, it might save one of your life's most important relationships.

Rubel Shelly


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Waking UP

The Secret to Waking Up in the New Age
Written by Jafree Ozwald
www.EnlightenedMessages.com
"Being himself exactly the Supreme Being, but thinking himself to be separate from Him, (man) strives to become united to Him; what is stranger than this?" ~Ramana
Can you feel the shift? Yes, a massive positive change for this entire world is in the air! Everywhere you go there seems to be this feeling that something wonderful is happening to this planet and that the beings on it are truly waking up. Of course not everyone is always on board this enlightening train, yet there will be many jumping on the caboose when they see it really taking off! You may have noticed we are becoming part of a "green society" where the more alternate and environmentally friendly way is respected more than making money. Our society is realizing that the old conventional ways, that led to the poisoning of our air and the slow killing of our planet, are no longer an option. Something very conscious and deeply transformational is happening on a global scale and you are part of it!
As divine manifesting beings, sometimes all we need is a good excuse to start choosing to live a more spiritually awakened existence. I received an email this week that said we are officially entering the Age of Aquarius. Remember the old song "Aquarius" from the movie Hair in the 70's? In the song they sing, "When the Moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars!" 
We are all being invited to shift our consciousness from being "me centered" to being "we centered". This your chance to have alot more FUN in your life and jump on board! This global awakening process is personal as well, for its about the realization of who we truly are. We are each divine infinite cosmic beings containing unlimited power and potentiality. To reach this deeper understanding of this truth, simply rest in the experience of profound inner peace. This feeling of true inner peace only happens when your paradigm is shifted constantly from "me" to "we".

If you stop and pay attention to what is here now, you can see that humanity is evolving at a much faster rate than even 5 years ago. We just cannot help but grow when even a few beings on this planet have realized this divine infinite sacred aspect within themselves. A new kind of human being is being born inside all of us. This is the dawning of the New Age; a time where each being will be attuned to the divine within, guided by intuition, and illuminating the world to be a brighter place from their own awakened consciousness. Only from a place of being more sensitive can we attune to the higher frequencies and discover a truly divine experience within and see the greater reason why we are truly here.

As the world continues to wake up, the number of enlightened beings will naturally multiply and in time create a whole new world. This global enlightenment will create a foundation of peace for this planet for the first time in many millennia. Our planet is about to give birth to billions of heart-centered open minded people, and nobody is going to miss this massive enlightening ride! In order to jump on this global train ride to enlightenment sooner (than later), it’s imperative to learn how to find absolute stillness inside. This is the secret to waking up and experiencing this new age happening around you. Only when your mind is still and silent, like a lake without any ripples, can you truly see clearly. You will know things you could not know, see things you wouldn't see, and feel this sacred energy within everything and everyone.
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." ~Richard Bach
When you find this silence and stillness within yourself, you will awaken others to their highest possible experience of life automatically. When you can find this simple enlightening stillness within, you'll be able to take on any circumstance life offers you with a peaceful heart and joyful mind. You will truly understand the vast unlimited potentiality you have inside to offer the world! Step into your greatest stillness and start meditation practice today.