Sound & Healing

Nine Insights Into Sound Healing
by Jonathan Goldman

Sound and music have been used since ancient times for healing and transformation. Yet there is today a growing re-emergence of interest in this field of sound healing with many different thoughts and ideas about the effects of sonics and their use as a transformative energy. Many of the major questions about sound healing are still unanswered. The following thoughts are just my own and may not be based upon the reality of anyone else. They may, however, prove to be useful insights and considerations for others.

One: We are all unique vibratory beings.

To begin, we address the concept that the basic principle of sound healing is that everything is in a state of vibration, including our organs, bones, tissues, etc. If these parts of the body become imbalanced they may be healed through projecting the proper and correct frequencies back into the body. This works for imbalances and over-or-underactivity in the chakras and the energy fields.

I believe that this concept is correct. I merely question whether the various frequencies that have been tabulated by numerous scientists and sound healers as being the frequency for the liver, for example, or the root chakra, are correct. My reason for questioning this information is that first, usually none of these frequencies that have been tabulated agree with one another. The second is, do you really believe that you have the same vibratory rate as anyone else?

When I first began this work nearly fifteen years ago, I was involved in a project researching and investigating the effects of tone upon the chakras. I found dozens of different systems that used different sounds to achieve the same result. How could this be? I wondered. Later on, I came across the works of different scientists who used different frequencies to achieve the same result (and, I might add, with apparent success.)

This led me to create the formula:

Frequency + Intent = Healing

The only commonality in many of these different systems was that the practitioner had the intent of vibrating or balancing a particular area or field with sound. However, this formula also stemmed from my own work with students, healers, and healees. It seemed that the more experience I had teaching and showing how to use sound as a transformative modality, the more validation I received that no one and nothing were the same. Which led to my believe that we are all unique vibratory beings, in a constant state of fluidity and flow.

On a cellular level, there may be generic tones for specific organs. However, we may be lacking certain information regarding the proper understanding of this. Along with a frequency for the structure of the organ, there may also be a modulated frequency which is the pulse of the organ (how the organ interacts with the various energy which passes through it–is it slow or fast? etc.) The brain, for example, pulses at different frequencies (alpha, beta, delta, theta,) but these are not the frequencies of the tissues of the brain. There may be at least two very different types of sonics which influence and affect any organ.

To make the assumption that we are all at the same level of physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual development, (and therefore that our chakras all behave the same and resonate to the same frequencies,) is rather simplistic. In Tibet, it seems that different chakras receive different mantras as sounds to resonate them, depending upon the level of development of the student. An “Ah” sound, for example, might work for the throat chakra at one level of development, while it might work for the heart chakra at another level.

Years ago, a student of mine found a system for working with sound and the chakras which used the note “C” for the root chakra and went up the chakras diatonically (“C,” “D,” “E,” “F,” etc.) so that the seventh or crown chakra vibrated to “B.” In principle, it was a very neat system, though it did not strike me as being correct for several reasons: First, it seemed that low frequencies affected my root chakra while high frequencies affected my crown. If the diatonic scale system were true, then that would mean that a low “B” would affect my crown chakra while a very high “C: would affect my root chakra, which did not seem to be the case. Also, is that note “C” resonating the root chakra before or after coffee? Early in the morning or late at night? Before or after meditation? It well may be that these activities and ingestions affect the frequency rate, not only of our physical body, but also of the chakras and the etheric fields.

So, to the question, “Do I believe we all resonate to the same frequency?” I answer, “No! I do not.” I believe we are all unique and different vibratory beings with different frequencies for our bodies, brain, and energy centers. And these frequencies can change.

Two: Because of the uniqueness of the human vibratory rate and the uniqueness of our response to music, it is difficult to accurately test the effects of music upon the human body and energy fields.

One of the most effective measurements for testing the effects of music upon the body is kinesiology, a method of muscle testing. While highly trained practitioners of kinesiology can sometimes determine profound insights, kinesiology is a very difficult and specific tool if the practitioner is not skilled or clear about its purpose. It is necessary that the persons doing the testing be well trained in the various subtleties of kinesiology, and that they be extremely clear, with nothing to prove when doing the testing. Thus, one sometimes questions the results of kinesiological testings, particularly involving music, if the person doing the testing has anything to prove.

Here is one final thought on using kinesiology to check for the positive or negative effects of music. Given that if a practitioner checks a patient while the music is on, both parties will be influenced by the music and the results are not balanced nor accurate. However, if one of the persons wears headphones while listening to the music, it is speculated that headphones actually add their own influence into the kinesiological testing and change the results. The ultimate answer would be to use a machine that used the same amount of pressure each time. However, while such a machine does exist, it is not commonly found nor used.

Three: The energy inherent on recordings may be as important as the sound reproduction of the recording.

As we move more and more into audiophile consciousness, with the advent of high-tech recording and playback equipment, a certain bias is developing which insists that for recorded music to be beneficial, it must be well recorded, without any distortion. There is an aspect of truth in this. “Clean,” clear music, without distortion, etc., is very nice to our ears. It’s great in fact, and I prefer it to poorly recorded sounds. But let’s fact it, clean music isn’t necessarily therapeutic. If one believes that there is an energy form (we’ll call it “intent” for this purpose) outside the actual frequency range of the music, then something else is also going on when we listen to music.

Have you ever heard a poorly recorded “bootleg” of a fabulous concert that absolutely sent you soaring when you heard it, then when you heard the same song released on the album that was clean and clear, it did nothing for you? I have. I have a number of recordings of chanting from various spiritual masters on which the fidelity is questionable. But the energy inherent in these recordings is marvelous and somehow the healing or transformative energies are still transmitted through the sounds.

If someone is so biased that they cannot bypass the audio fidelity of a recording, I have no doubt that these people will not allow themselves to access the energy inherent on poorly recorded cassettes and discs. This may be a problem unique unto the individual and not inherent in the actual recording.

Let us not bias others with our own biases. It certainly qualifies and quantifies what’s good and bad for us.

Four: No one recorded sound medium is better than another.

This brings us to the insight of whether analog recordings (cassettes and record albums) are more beneficial than digital recordings (or vice versa.) The sonic jury is still out on this. No one knows. No doubt, both analog and digital are very different and, no doubt, they both can have positive results.

When kinesiology was first used as a method of testing the effects of music, it really seemed that digital was not beneficial. At the time, this may have been true. The early digital recordings sounded different: they were clear, but cold. Some people would develop headaches while listening to them. Still later, as digital continued to develop, I found people who believed that digital recording created sounds that were not beneficial to the cells of the body or auric field. There may be truth to this. It is difficult to accurately test the effects of music.

More recently, a friend of mine who is a fine musical magician suggested that I was anti-digital because I was afraid of new technology. “Once you stop being afraid, you’ll be able to work with digital and synthesized sampled sounds as a sonic form that can be worked with (and influenced) like any other sound.” His words rang true. “Besides,” he added, “digital is working with quartz based technologies and you know how you love to work with quartz crystals.”

I listened to my friends advice and began to incorporate some digital and synthesized sampling technologies in my work. For example, during the recording of Angel of Sound, I utilized both analog and digital studio techniques. In addition, during the recording, I consciously asked Shamael, the Angel of Sacred Sound, to come into the recording (regardless of whether it was analog or digital.) From all reports, the Angel is there.

One last thing: Some purists tend to think of analog as being a purer sound than digital. More real. Conceptually, this is true, until you add all the other elements of recording and playback to this. When you take an analog recording such as a cassette and play it back through a transistorized system (which most of us have,) that analog signal is significantly changed. The sounds that come out of the systems are no more “real” than anything else. Prerecorded music is in some way altered and changed from what it originally was. Therefore no one recorded sound medium is really better than another.

Five: All tunings from different instrument have healing potential.

Many people believe that only harmonically related tunings are healing. Without getting too technical, let me say that the tunings of keyboards are, for the most part, tempered tunings. This means that the natural harmonically related intervals and ratios of different notes, when played together, are changed and different. On a piano, the ratios are logarithmically related, not harmonically, They don’t possess the naturally occurring ratios that are a part of the harmonic series. Blame it on Bach, if you like, since he pioneered equal tempered music. It did change the intervals on the keyboard, but it also allowed players to be able to change keys without hitting “bad” notes.

There are those who feel that only music which has harmonically related intervals created either by the voice or by instruments that are not equal tempered have therapeutic value. As the author of a book which focuses on harmonics I understand this belief, though it doesn’t resonate with me as being true. Too many people have received healings, experienced transformations, and generally had wonderful times listening to music that was created by instruments such as the piano which uses equal temperaments. One cannot denegrate these healing experiences by proclaiming that tunings must be harmonically related to be healing.

Six: Both intent and frequency create the transformation experience.

In my book Healing Sounds and in the workshops which I teach, I focus a lot of energy and thought on the importance of intention: the energy behind the sound. I point out how important intention is in the healing process. Never, however would I say that intention is the only thing. Remember,

Frequency + Intent = Healing.

It’s not just one or the other. As the saying goes: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” As another writer pointed out, the path between conception and execution can be quite distant. If, for example, I want to calm someone and I shout in their ear, my intent may be one thing, but the actual sound I make may be quite another thing and create quite a different effect.

Intentionality is extremely important and something that needs to be worked on consciously and consistently by sound healing practitioners. Frequency is equally important and not to be ignored. We need to be aware of the psychophysiology of sound, how we use sound, and how sounds affects us. We are vibratory beings and different sounds will resonate and influence us, unless we get to a level of attunement practiced by certain masters.

Perhaps it is regarding this ideal level of mastery and attunement where most people get confused. Few of us have achieved this vibratory level or the clearness of intent inherent in it. Usually, we are working at a level where we still need to clear ourselves when we’re working with projecting intention. Just having a desire to be clear doesn’t mean we’re there yet. Probably when one has reached a mastership of clarity, where one can truly project divine intention–the difference between “Thy will” and “My will”)–one can make any sound and have a desired effect. However, this is not often the case.

It’s important, as we go through our spiritual evolutionary process when working with sound, to become aware of the effects of the sounds that we are projecting, as well as our proposed intentionality. It is the only way.

Seven: Sound is subtle.

We still live in the old paradigm of “more is better,” and particularly, louder and longer is better. However, when working with sound, the volume, duration of frequency, and the effect of the sound are not necessarily interrelated.
We all know about how loud volumes can cause hearing loss. Also, in terms of physiological response, loud sounds do have specific and not particularly therapeutic effects. They trigger the fight or flight response, release adrenaline, raise heart beat, respiration, and brain wave activity, and may interfere with immunological functions.

There are therapists, for example, who use music played at very high volumes to elicit certain responses. This is valid, but we must remember that this is a specific use of music for a specific purpose.

It may be that when working with sound, loud volumes actually have less ability to make those changes down at a molecular level than do soft, gentle sound. Very loud sounds may be too overpowering to achieve a desired and long lasting effect, merely passing through the body without creating change. So louder is not better and neither is longer necessarily better.

While we may still have a “more is better” consciousness, this is not necessarily true in terms of sound. A frequency, or tone, may be effective when listened to or chanted for a brief period, but the effects may nullify or even become adverse over too long a period of time.

There may be a minimum amount of sound duration that is necessary to make changes in the physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual body. Some sound healing practitioners say that five minutes is needed for a tone to really make change. Others say ten and others, twenty minutes. There are some sound practitioners who have people sound or listen to music for many hours. Since we are all unique vibratory beings, I believe it differs from individual to individual. I certainly have observed extraordinary changes in individuals who have received sound for only a couple of minutes or less.

With the various sonic equipment and recordings that are now available which create specific sounds, there may be people who will be sounding or listening to a particular frequency all day long. Depending upon the individual and their needs, this may be fine, or it may not be healthful. More is not necessarily better and with sound, too much can possibly be debilitating to the nervous system or other systems of the physical and etheric bodies. Balance is an extraordinarily important aspect of any transformative or healing work and principles of balance should be applied to sound.

Eight: Sound and light/color are different forms of energy.

This thought may be quite controversial for some who believe light and sound are the same. No one really knows. My belief is that sound and light are related, but they are not the same. One way to look at this relationship is through the harmonic series. Harmonics are the notes created from a fundamental tone which display universal principles of whole number ratios. A note vibrating at 100 cycles per second will affect any note that is a harmonic of this. This means a note vibrating twice as fast at 200 cycles per second, a note vibrating three times as fast at 300 cycles per second, and so on. This is the sonic equivalent of the ancient Hermetic Principle: “As above, so below.”

We can therefore conceptually take that 100 cycles per second note, and say it is harmonically related to a note 1 million cycles per second. However, this does not mean it is the same note nor will it necessarily have the same effect.

What has happened with the sound-as-light phenomenon is that mathematical scientists have either taken the frequency of a note and then doubled it forty times, until this frequency is within the same range as a particular color of light, or taken the frequency of a color and halved it forty times until this frequency is within the same range as a sound. Then these scientists have said, “This is that.” It may be, but no one has actually turned a sound into light.

Different colors have been assigned to different notes, with devices like light organs, but it’s still all theoretical. No one has been able to take one sound frequency and jump it up forty octaves, without relying on putting it into different instruments or computers which, of course, change the natural process of a sound wave.

It may be that as a frequency enters a different energy state (sound would have to turn into many different types of energy such as heat before it became light,) the frequency goes through a conversion process and the mathematics are very different. As energy is transduced, the math may become much more complicated than we know. The simple doubling process may not be relevant.

My thoughts are that sound and light are complementary energy forms, but not necessarily the same. Assigning specific colors to specific tones may be an oversimplification of a process we do not yet understand. It may be that we can encode any color upon any frequency. This is another idea that I wanted to share with you, as long as we’re on the subject. No one really knows the answers to this insight at this time.

Nine: All music potentially has therapeutic qualities.

Many people believe that only New Age Music is healing, or whatever type of music you want to substitute for “New Age.” This gets into the same conundrum I experienced many years ago when I first began this sojourn into sound. Everybody wanted me to talk about how rock’n’roll was the devil’s music and bad. I wouldn’t. It is my belief that any music, depending upon the time, the place, and the need of the individual can have therapeutic effects. It is not that any music will have therapeutic effects, but that it can, if it is correct for the individual.
Knowledge of the psycho-acoustic effects of sound is helpful here. Certain sounds will often create similar physiological responses in many people. Slow pulsed music, for example, will have a tendency to slow down our heart rate, respiration, and brain waves. Often, fast music will have the opposite effect. If it’s three o’clock in the morning, I’m tired and driving home from a party, and I put on a piece of deeply relaxing music, what happens? I become even drowsier and such music would probably be extremely hazardous to my driving. However, if I were to play some loud, up-tempo music, most likely it would stimulate me, keep me awake, and under those conditions be quite therapeutic. This is not the same situation if it’s three in the morning and I’m trying to find music to help me sleep. Very different responses required. Very different types of music are needed.
Knowing how you want to use music is extremely important, as is understanding the potential psychological and physiological effects that are inherent in the music. Slow pulsed New Age music is excellent, of course, for relaxation but it’s not ideal for dancing. Yet, if dancing (and the extraordinary energy release found by dancing) is desired, slow New Age music is not ideal. What is your purpose for using a specific piece of music? Is it for meditation, guided imagery, dance, deep recollection, or for emotional release?
Realizing that every type of music has the ability to resonate with us on many different levels, it is possible that any type of music can have positive results. We should be open-minded about all music and the possible transformative and therapeutic results that can occur from it.

One of the best ways of working with music is to create a musical prescription for yourself. Find out what types of music you respond to best. What specific music makes you feel joyful? What music makes you feel sad? Write down the different music that elicits different responses and use this music when you want to create a feeling or a mood. No one piece of music will affect everyone the same way, especially when it comes to our emotional responses to music. You can not expect someone else to have the same experiences as you do with any music. However, frequently, with our own experiences, if we have had a specific emotional response to listening to particular music, we will have a similar response when listening to that music again.

When working with others, you must find out what music works best for them in order to help create their musical prescription. It may be possible that a person is blocked from enjoying certain types of music because the sounds resonate imbalances within them. For example, one time a student could not listen to very low sounds, particularly those produced by chanting Tibetan monks. This was a response to a blockage in the lower chakras. Once this person was able to acknowledge the situation and open to the resonances created by the deep sounds, the blockages disappeared and they were able to release the imbalances. It was quite a transformational experience. This story illustrates how it is possible to find music that we really dislike, which can actually be useful in helping us to encounter and heal imbalanced aspects of ourself.

My final suggestion is to allow the potentiality of healing to occur in every piece of music. Music can reach into aspects of our psyche that we may not have a clue even exist. There are people working solely with classical music, or “sacred” music, or New Age music. The reality is that all forms of music, from rock, to country, to jazz, to all the world musics that are now available to us, may have the potential of reaching further into our bodies, minds, and souls to initiate healing and transformation. Be open to all possibilities. You can never know what may transpire until you have tried.

from:    https://www.healingsounds.com/nine-insights-into-sound-healing

Your Color Vibe for SUnday, July 12

Sunday, July 12:   Silver

There are some big changes in the air, and you will see some indications of that today. These can come in odd ways – through synchronicity, memory lapses, things seen out of the corner of your eye, etc.. Be aware of where you are when these things happen. The key to it all can be linked to a certain place or even people there. It is time again to appreciate yourself for all the things that you know. You can be surprised today as people find you to be an expert in areas that you thought you were just a novice.   Take some time also to appreciate the beauty, awe, the wonder, and the power of the natural world around you. Send energy and thanks to Gaia for all she is.

Consciousness, Co-Creation & You

Synchronicity and the Secret of the Co-creator

  Robert Torres, Contributor
Waking Times

Synchronicity: is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner [to the observer]. To count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance.

If you believe synchronicity is simply coincidence, then you haven’t read any of the top experts in the field. The famous psychotherapist Carl Gustav Jung coined the term synchronicity in the 1920s to reference the alignment of universal forces with a person’s experiences.

These forces have been sought out for centuries in many spiritual traditions as a means of aligning with the “flow.” This usually takes years of disciplined meditation, study, ritual or other means to navigate this journey toward a harmonic “individuation.” To some the search is inward for the self, yet for others it’s an outward search for spirituality.

My first experience with synchronicity was on March 21st at 3:03am which is the 3rd month, 3rd week, 3rd hour, 3rd minute or 3333, on the equinox and the moment of my birth. It was my alignment with the universal forces, the planet, space and time.

My awakening was also through no effort of my own and came by way of a supernatural encounter with an entity of light. It began my involvement with and research into the metaphysical nature of reality – I became “enlightened.” Because of this I have an inherent understanding of many esoteric concepts like the flow, the spirit, one-ness and even divinity.

My experiences are not entirely unique, but the way in which this window of understanding opened for me is. There was no journey, no explanation as to why – the knowledge was just revealed. Things that to many are never more than concepts and metaphors, I actually see as having real form. I’ve witnessed many paranormal phenomena unfold with me seemingly being the only connection. However, because of my earlier encounters I’ve never attributed much of it directly to myself. I’ve always sensed a presence around me. So unlike many others who seek the path, I feel that for some reason the source found me.

Being human however leaves me questioning: “Who or what is this presence?” Abilities like ESP, clairvoyance, telekinesis are all real along with the concepts of a sub-stratum or pre-space. But what is our connection?

In Jung’s book “An Acausal Connecting Principle” it is subjective meaning that connects us. Without an observer (YOU) there is no mind, no synchronicity, no meaning. Thoughts connected to events, mind connected to movements of matter, absent of a cause (acausal). Thinking something before it happens, remote viewing, telekinesis, where do these abilities come from? Since scientists don’t accept the mind as a cause. How then do we prove any of this?

I say that we are using a flawed science because it is incomplete. Physicist, Dr. William Tiller proposes that consciousness is what’s missing from the equation. It’s the unifying integrator of all the individual constituents. Bohm says there is a hidden variable implying that neither relativity nor quantum mechanics should be accepted as a conclusive nor exclusive solution.

My research began with Carl Jung but for millennia prior to Jung man has experienced synchronicity. Theoretically it begins outside of our space-time in the flow where all knowledge exits and our material reality takes shape. It then unfolds into our dimension only to return back to the flow. This is described by David Bohms theory of “the implicate order.” However prior to synchronicity, ancient humanity used words like sympathy, harmony and unity.

In the fourth century B.C., the Greek philosopher Heraclitus viewed all things as being inter-related, nothing is isolated and that all things are linked. Similarly Hippocrates said: “There is ONE common flow, a common breathing. Everything is in sympathy.” A bond – and even between inanimate objects. A form of “animism” or the belief that all matter has consciousness. This is a classic idea whereby separateness is an illusion.

Now what you should know is that Jung had a lifelong interest in and many experiences with the paranormal. Working with him was the Nobel Prize winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli who also had experiences with telekinesis. Catastrophic breakdowns of experimental equipment would inexplicably occur when he was around. It was often joked about, but other scientists feared his presence during experiments because it was commonly believed he was the cause. This is well known in physics as “The Pauli Effect.” 

Together they helped pioneer the study of parapsychology. Others studying non-material or fringe science also advanced the field (sometimes unknowingly) by the very nature of their work. Pauli’s early work in quantum physics had a strong influence by changing how we think about matter itself.

A great example of good solid theory is Rupert Sheldrake’s morphic fields.” He shows us how fields create relationships. Physicist David Bohm’s “Implicate and Explicate Order” as previously mentioned. Michael Talbot’s famous “Holographic Universe” or Physicist David Peat’s “Meaning and Form.” All of these hypothesize a substratum beneath our material and temporal reality.  Much of quantum physics is competing theory and it’s the same with non-material science.

Consciousness itself cannot be scientifically quantified – there is no explaining it. Many believe it exists outside the brain, perhaps the Akashic field. Psi-fields, source fields, the flow, these are all conceptual dimensions bound together by abstract relationships. Where consciousness and matter are two aspects of the same thing. These are the domains of the trickster gods where Hermes and Loki conspire to fool us using mind, matter and meaning.

Ok, and although I’m in agreement with many of these theorists about some hypothetical matrix. What is the intelligence behind the curtain?

Since before recorded history humankind has recognized the existence of a greater intelligence. Ask any believer of any esoteric system and you’ll get many different answers. The spirit, God, the Goddess, Sophie, Allah, the Demiurge, The One. History’s greatest scientists came to this same conclusion. Einstein said: “Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe – a spirit vastly superior to that of man.”

Also Max Planck the father of quantum physics said: “All matter originates and exists, only by virtue of a force. We must assume behind this force is the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.” Isaac Newton believed the universe was mechanical, set into motion by God and then left to run. There are others who believe that all existence is an emanation of God. Some don’t believe there is an external intelligence at all. This is not my belief!

What many of these theories and beliefs have in common, is that your own thoughts can alter the outside world in relation to you. Though, you alone are not the creator within the flow of the source field. You are simply part of the process. The biggest secret is not that there is a co-creator, but that it’s YOU! Ultimately there is a separate coordinating intelligence in control.

This is what causes events to coincide without your thoughts, like for instance, the moment of my birth: 3333. That’s why we pray or chant, recite mantras, sing praises and invoke – expecting a particular outcome. Deep down inside we’ve always known we were being watched, even in an empty room, we are never really alone. How many times do events align that seem so strange and statistically unlikely to have occurred by chance? They must originate externally. This means, that The Source or The-One controlling it all is out there and not within…

“Synchronicity is God’s way of remaining anonymous.” Albert Einstein

About the Author

Robert Torres is the author of the non-fiction book “Sin Thesis” available at Amazon. Please visit https://about.me/Towers3.

This article was written using excerpts and concepts from the non-fiction book “Sin Thesis” available at Amazon written by the author Robert Torres. https://about.me/Towers3

This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

from:    http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/07/10/synchronicity-and-the-secret-of-the-co-creator/

Your Color Vibe for Saturday, July 11

Saturday, July 11:   Dark Orange

This is a good day for making plans. There are things that you have thought about – things to do, things to make, people to call, places to go, and the current energies can move you forward in all of this. First make sure that you are grounded and connected. Then go within and ‘feel’ what is right. You will get answers from your innermost knowing. Your intuition is quite keen right now. Do not doubt it. Then get things in order. By planning and organizing, you will find yourself prepared for some of the challenges that are coming.

Amazon Echo & Other IN-Home Spy Devices

Amazon

Amazon releases the ultimate Big Brother spy device that constantly listens to everything you say in your own home

CNaturalNews) Some of the most invasive new technology is being marketed as invaluable tools that “help” around your home or office, so-called “Internet of Everything” devices that have massive potential to serve as spy tools for snooping authorities.

One such device is being marketed by online retail giant Amazon. Called the Amazon Echo, it is a voice-activated “knowledge” device designed to respond to users’ questions. But to do so, the device continually monitors all sounds for your voice, and as such, given its Internet connectivity, could serve as a surveillance device to anyone who has the ability to hack into it.

The approximately 12-inch-tall, 3-inch-wide black cylindrical device is part microphone, part computer; when you ask it a question, it responds with an answer that is retrieved from “the cloud.”

“Echo is a device designed around your voice,” says a marketing video. “Simply say, ‘Alexa,’ and ask a question or give a command.”

And there is the “family robot line, too

Continuing, the marketing video notes that Echo is connected to Alexa, “a cloud-based voice service, so it can help out with all sorts of useful information right when you need it.”

Further, “Echo can hear you from anywhere in the room, so it’s always ready to help,” says the video.

One user notes the efficiency of the device’s voice recognition technology.

“I can have the water running, I can be cooking, the TV can be on in the back room, and she still can hear me,” he said.

Among the uses mentioned in the video: Echo can help you make a grocery list, provide timely news, control your lights, set timers, keep appointments and even provide timely traffic reports for commuters – all information that can be useful to anyone snooping on you.

And, of course, Echo can connect users to Amazon’s online retail services, to order or reorder products.

The motto for Echo is: “Always ready. Always Connected. Just ask.”

The Echo is not the first, or only, device that can serve as an audio surveillance tool for hackers and authorities. Natural News readers may remember that, earlier this spring, we reported on a new “family-oriented” robot named Jibo (pronounced JEE-boh) that essentially performs the same (surveillance) function as the Echo.

Like the Amazon product, Jibo can do a great many things, like talk to you, track your movements, engage in face and voice recognition, take photos and videos, and even “educate” and “entertain” your children.

As further noted by USA Today:

Jibo promises a sense of humor. With built-in cameras, it can recognize you and learn from you over time. It might ask for your favorite color and factor that in when it presents information.

And Jibo is being designed to recognize critical cues, like whether you’re smiling or not. It might use that to decide when to snap a picture of you or other family members. [emphases added]

It’s not just physical devices – robots, talking “companions” and such – that people have to worry about when it comes to chronic invasions of their privacy. Everyday tech products we use online, like media giant Google, are part of a growing network of technological tools that are being utilized to monitor everything we do.

Online technology is also watching, tracking you

As reported by the UK’s Guardian, Google is installing eavesdropping programs on users’ computers without their knowledge.

The paper reported:

Privacy campaigners and open source developers are up in arms over the secret installing of Google software which is capable of listening in on conversations held in front of a computer.

First spotted by open source developers, the Chromium browser – the open source basis for Google’s Chrome – began remotely installing audio-snooping code that was capable of listening to users.

Google officials sought to downplay the paper’s findings and report, but within a few days the company nevertheless pulled the program.

Dealing with Too Much Technology

The Problem With Being Hyperconnected

Posted:

We need time to defuse, to contemplate. Just as in sleep our brains relax and give us dreams, so at some time in the day we need to disconnect, reconnect, and look around us. — Laurie Colwin

We are drowning in information.

The digital floodgates have well and truly opened.

The result is most of us are overstimulated, hyperconnected, stressed and in drastic need of a reset.

Sleep helps, but what’s the first thing many of us reach for in the morning on waking? Our smartphones.

The technology we now have available to us is truly incredible. How we use it is not always so incredible.

The Problem: Are we using technology to improve our lives or are we letting the technology run our lives?

If you leave the house and realize you’ve left your phone home and feel a deep sense of panic, then maybe it’s time to step back. Surely this is no reason to panic in the grand scheme of life.

If you are constantly checking digital channels and inboxes through the entire course of a day (email, blogs, Twitter) and obsessively checking for updates and hitting refresh buttons, maybe it’s also time to take a step back.

Are we really going to get to the end of our lives and wish we had spent more time online?

The Answer: Planned Downtime

Both our minds and bodies need time to occasionally disconnect. They need time to process, rest and reset.

How do we do this? We plan for it.

We disconnect from the online world a little. We tune out or switch off. We stop staring at a screen. We recharge.

How we use the downtime is also critical to ensuring we feel refreshed.

This is time to reflect. Time to walk, to breathe in some fresh air. Time to enjoy nature and the outdoors. Time to enjoy a non-stressful pastime or hobby.

This is not an anti-technology rant. Technology can and does make our lives better and easier if used appropriately. How we use it is up to us. Let’s use it wisely.

This post was originally shared on my blog: www.frictionlessliving.net.

Carl is the proud owner of Frictionless Living which is focused on helping readers live a simpler and more personally satisfying life. He is also the author of several books including 22 Ways to Simpler Living, 22 Ways to Happier and Frictionless Email. To read more and/or contact him go to his site.

from:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-phillips/hyperconnected-_b_7761258.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living

The Psoas Muscle, Fear, & Pain

The ‘Muscle of the Soul’ may be Triggering Your Fear and Anxiety

  Brett Wilbanks, Staff Writer
Waking Times

The psoas major muscle (pronounced “so-as”) is often referred to as the deepest core, or as yoga therapist and film-maker Danielle Olson states, the “muscle of the soul.” This core-stabilizing muscle located near the hip bone affects mobility, structural balance, joint function, flexibility, and much more. In addition to its function to help keep the body upright and moving, the psoas is believed to allow you to connect with the present moment especially when it is stretched out and tension is released from the body.

Research indicates that the psoas is vital to our psychological wellbeing in addition to structural health. Liz Koch, author of The Psoas Book, states that our psoas “literally embodies our deepest urge for survival, and more profoundly, our elemental desire to flourish.” This means that there is a lot more to the psoas than one might initially think. It is entirely possible to harness healing pranic energy and improve mental health by keeping the psoas healthy.

Where is the Psoas?

The psoas is the principal muscle associated with physical stability. It stretches from the legs to the spine and is the only muscle connecting the legs to the spinal column. The muscle flares out from the T12 vertebrae, follows down the five lumbar vertebrae, before attaching to the top of the thigh bone.

The Reptilian Connection

In addition to connecting the legs and spine, the psoas is connected to the diaphragm. Breathing is modulated at the diaphragm, and it is also the location where many physical symptoms associated with fear and anxiety manifest. Koch believes that this is due to the direct link between the psoas and the most ancient part of our brain stem and spinal cord, called the reptilian brain.

According to Koch, “Long before the spoken word or the organizing capacity of the cortex developed, the reptilian brain, known for its survival instincts, maintained our essential core functioning.” The way we live today, constantly rushing, competing and achieving, has the psoas in a constant “fight or flight” state.

psoas

Issues Associated with Chronic Psoas Stress

Trapped in a constant “flight or fight” state, psoas muscles are stressed and constricted, almost from the time of birth. As Koch notes, “this situation is exacerbated by many things in our modern lifestyle, from car seats to constrictive clothing, from chairs to shoes that distort our posture, curtail our natural movements and further constrict our psoas.” This lifelong chronic stress put on the psoas can lead to many problems like back, hip, or knee pain, and even digestive issues and dysfunctional breathing. It could also be a major cause why people suffer from chronic physical pain.

The physical body is not the only part of you that suffers from a chronically-stressed psoas. The psoas is much more than a muscle used for structural stability. It influences every element of life, from how you feel, to how you look at the world, and even how you treat others. A variety of problems have been associated with a chronically-stressed psoas muscle: it can negatively affect your emotional state; it can impact your interpersonal relationships; and it can influence your general contentment with life. Awareness that a healthy psoas is important to emotional wellness, as well as physical health, is the first step towards ensuring that we give this muscle the attention it deserves.

Koch states, “Whether you suffer from sore back or anxiety, from knee strain or exhaustion, there’s a good chance that a constricted psoas might be contributing to your woes.”

Fear and the Psoas

Since the psoas is closely linked to our “fight or flight” mechanism, fear can be over-represented in those with a constricted psoas.

It is an emotion that manifests itself in the most unusual ways and can “lock” itself into the body resulting in both physical and emotional tension. By restoring balance to your psoas muscles, you are likely to release this pent up tension, which can have a profound effect on releasing unfounded fearfulness about life, and thus improve both your physical and mental wellbeing. You will feel a greater sense of inner peace, along with fewer muscle aches and strains.

The Connection to the Energetic Body

Lengthening and releasing your psoas grounds you to the Earth, which is filled with healing and revitalizing energy, thus allowing you to balance your pranic energy and enabling you to feel more present in the moment. Proper structural stability attributed to a healthy psoas allows prana to flow, unimpeded, throughout the body, allowing for proper distribution of vital energy. In the physical sense, when the body can properly support itself, movement is less-restricted and requires less effort, thus leaving you more energetic.

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times

Our understanding of the psoas is by no means new knowledge. In fact, it is more akin to ancient wisdom that was either lost or discarded over time. Yoga shows us explicitly that ancient gurus understood the importance of releasing contracted psoas muscles. Ancient yoga asanas, or postures, that are now practiced all around the world, focus on lengthening and releasing psoas muscles and restoring comfort and balance to the entire body. With consistent practice, you can learn how to isolate this muscle, which can be immensely useful and healing in the long run.

Yoga is also a great way to measure the current health of the psoas. There are many postures, such as tree (Vrksasana), which cannot be properly achieved if the psoas is contracted. If you are practicing a sitting or standing yoga pose and feel strain in either your knees or lower back (or both), then there’s a good chance that your psoas is constricted and needs more of your attention.

The psoas is an important, yet often unknown, muscle that plays a vital role in physical health and mental wellbeing. The cumulative effect of neglecting this muscle is physical and mental stress and tension, which manifests itself in our society as anxiety, depression, chronic back pain, knee pain, digestive distress, respiratory problems, etc.

Source:
https://bodydivineyoga.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/the-psoas-muscle-of-the-soul/

http://www.yogajournal.com/article/practice-section/the-psoas-is/

About the Author

Brett Wilbanks is a freelancer writer with great interest in the overall health and wellbeing of the body and mind. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com and an avid gardener, reader, and proponent of natural, green, environmentally-friendly living.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of WakingTimes or its staff.

 

from:    http://www.wakingtimes.com/2015/06/02/the-muscle-of-the-soul-may-be-triggering-your-fear-and-anxiety/

Sanders and Trump – Wild Cards

America

The refreshing surge of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump: America tires of the same old insider corruption and idiocy offered by Clinton and Bush

(NaturalNews) I don’t usually cover pure politics here on Natural News, but watching the surge of Bernie Sanders (on the left) and Donald Trump (on the right) is so refreshing that I had to share it with you. It turns out these two have a lot more in common than you might expect.

They’re both independent-minded individuals who aren’t afraid to buck the system… or even to threaten it! Sanders openly talks about obliterating Wall Street capitalist cronies while Donald Trump openly threatens to build a giant wall on the border to block illegal immigration. These aren’t cowardly, mainstream ideas; they’re bold, controversial positions that simply aren’t designed to appease the middle ground.

Both of these ideas are, of course, viciously attacked by the corporate-controlled lamestream media. Yet despite the attacks, both Sanders and Trump are surging in popularity. In fact, both are now leading the pack for their respective parties, according to some polls. See Donald Trump Leads The Pack as GOP Frontrunner at Breitbart.com.

Compare the bold, striking words of Sanders and Trump to the banal speeches and relentless lies of Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush — two lifelong politicians whose only goal is to appease everyone at all times, even if it means making different promises to different crowds in different cities on different days. Hillary Clinton, in particular, is a pathological liar who, if elected, would run the White House like a mafia don.

Clinton and Bush are the very faces of government corruption, deception and tyranny. If either one of these gets elected in 2016, America is finished. Only a new face and a new direction have any hope of rescuing America from the disastrous economic death spiral it’s currently experiencing.

Why America needs bold leadership

Bernie Sanders calls himself a “democratic socialist.” He’s pro-people, anti-corporate-corruption and pro-Big Government. Donald Trump calls himself a Republican, but he’s really more of an economic libertarian. Egoistic and forthright, he might actually be the perfect “in your face” kind of leader to go up against the likes of Russian President Putin, who thinks of politicians like Obama as being wussified wimps.

In a time of global turmoil in the Ukraine and the Middle East, an economic implosion unraveling in the EU, and Iran being on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons — which the Obama administration has actually encouraged — America needs somebody BOLD… somebody with a spine who won’t pander to the politically correct media.

America can’t survive another status quo corrupt politician that betrays the People to the insane corporations and war mongers who currently run the show. Every vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for Monsanto, and every vote for Jeb Bush is a vote for endless war and the continued rise of the Orwellian police state. (It’s all for your “national security,” didn’t you know?)

The only people who currently support Jeb Bush are the politically clueless lifelong Republican ticket voters who are totally ignorant of what Bush actually stands for. And the only people who would vote for Hillary Clinton are totally clueless, low-information voters who are so cognitively impaired that they couldn’t even spell “Clinton” if you asked them.

How Bernie Sanders may topple Clinton

In an article entitled “This Is How Hillary Loses the Primary,” Stuart Stevens writes:

Something remarkable is happening in American politics. For the first time in our history, a socialist is running a close second and gaining ground on the front-runner in a presidential race.

Anyway you look at it, Senator Bernie Sanders is making history and may very well play a deciding role in who will be the next president.

As Stevens explains, Bernie Sanders is now looking likely to beat out Hillary Clinton for the democratic primary. But Sanders himself is very unlikely to win against any Republican contender, meaning Sanders could play the role of a “Clinton spoiler.”

Bernie Sanders, in other words, is the Democrats’ Ross Perot. Except Ross Perot was absolutely correct about so-called “free trade” gutting the U.S. economy. Bernie Sanders’ economic policies are far more “Big Government” oriented and likely to push America even more aggressively toward economic implosion.

Then again, perhaps America’s left-wing political leaders can simply invoke China’s stock market genius of threatening to arrest anyone who SELLS stocks, thereby propping up delusional valuations at gunpoint.

On Remembering & Forgetting

Health Check: can your brain be ‘full’?

The brain is truly a marvel. A seemingly endless library, whose shelves house our most precious memories as well as our lifetime’s knowledge. But is there a point where it reaches capacity? In other words, can the brain be “full”?

The answer is a resounding no, because, well, brains are more sophisticated than that. A study published in Nature Neuroscience earlier this year shows that instead of just crowding in, old information is sometimes pushed out of the brain for new memories to form.

Previous behavioural studies have shown that learning new information can lead to forgetting. But in this study, researchers used new neuroimaging techniques to demonstrate for the first time how this effect occurs in the brain.

The experiment

The paper’s authors set out to investigate what happens in the brain when we try to remember information that’s very similar to what we already know. This is important because similar information is more likely to interfere with existing knowledge, and it’s the stuff that crowds without being useful.

To do this, they examined how brain activity changes when we try to remember a “target” memory, that is, when we try to recall something very specific, at the same time as trying to remember something similar (a “competing” memory). Participants were taught to associate a single word (say, the word sand) with two different images – such as one of Marilyn Monroe and the other of a hat.

They found that as the target memory was recalled more often, brain activity for it increased. Meanwhile, brain activity for the competing memory simultaneously weakened. This change was most prominent in regions near the front of the brain, such as the prefrontal cortex, rather than key memory structures in the middle of the brain, such as the hippocampus, which is traditionally associated with memory loss.

Allan Ajifo/Flickr, CC BY

The prefrontal cortex is involved in a range of complex cognitive processes, such as planning, decision making, and selective retrieval of memory. Extensive research shows this part of the brain works in combination with the hippocampus to retrieve specific memories.

If the hippocampus is the search engine, the prefrontal cortex is the filter determining which memory is the most relevant. This suggests that storing information alone is not enough for a good memory. The brain also needs to be able to access the relevant information without being distracted by similar competing pieces of information.

Better to forget

In daily life, forgetting actually has clear advantages. Imagine, for instance, that you lost your bank card. The new card you receive will come with a new personal identification number (PIN). Research in this field suggests that each time you remember the new PIN, you gradually forget the old one. This process improves access to relevant information, without old memories interfering.

And most of us will be able to identify with the frustration of having old memories interfere with new, relevant memories. Consider trying to remember where you parked your car in the same carpark you were at a week earlier. This type of memory (where you are trying to remember new, but similar information) is particularly susceptible to interference.

When we acquire new information, the brain automatically tries to incorporate it within existing information by forming associations. And when we retrieve information, both the desired and associated but irrelevant information is recalled.

If the hippocampus is the search engine, the prefrontal cortex is the filter determining which memory is the most relevant. Playing Futures: Applied No/Flickr, CC BY

The majority of previous research has focused on how we learn and remember new information. But current studies are beginning to place greater emphasis on the conditions under which we forget, as its importance begins to be more appreciated.

The curse of memory

A very small number of people are able to remember almost every detail of their life in great detail; they have hyperthymestic syndrome. If provided with a date, they are able to tell you where and what they were doing on that particular day. While it may sound like a boon to many, people with this rare condition often find their unusual ability burdensome.

Some report an inability to think about the present or the future, because of the feeling of constantly living in the past, caught in their memories. And this is what we all might experience if our brains didn’t have a mechanism for superseding information that’s no longer relevant and did indeed fill up.

At the other end of the spectrum is a phenomenon called “accelerated long-term forgetting”, which has been observed in epilepsy and stroke patients. As the name suggests, these people forget newly learnt information at a much faster rate, sometimes within a few hours, compared to what’s considered normal.

It’s believed this represents a failure to “consolidate” or transfer new memories into long-term memory. But the processes and impact of this form of forgetting are still largely unexplored.

What studies in this area are demonstrating is that remembering and forgetting are two sides of the same coin. In a sense, forgetting is our brain’s way of sorting memories, so the most relevant memories are ready for retrieval. Normal forgetting may even be a safety mechanism to ensure our brain doesn’t become too full.

from:    https://theconversation.com/health-check-can-your-brain-be-full-40844

Alien Bases – Dark SIde of Moon?

You be the judge:

Alien Cities And Ships Found On Dark Side Of Moon In Apollo 11 Photo, July 2015, UFO Sighting News.

Date of discovery: July 2015
Location of discovery: Earths Moon
This white structure above was found recently on the moon in an old Apollo 11 photo. Streetcap1 of Youtube found it and I have to admit its pretty damn good. The white tower also has a black sphere in its top. It looks like a hole, but it is a solid black sphere.
I looked deeper into the photo and had trouble not finding things. Yeah, you heard me right. There was just to much in this photo to easily dismiss as natural.

Can you see the square shaped building in the screenshots above and below? This looks similar to the base seen in the NASA publicity photo taken by the newspaper (Click here to view old post).

The city in the screenshot below is harder to make out, but if you allow you eyes to adjust to the black and white, you will soon easily see it.

This unusual tower stands out among the flat grey surface of the moon.

The screenshot below shows a triangular mothership at dock and nearby is a city on the surface.

My favorite find in this photo, is the hovering mothership in the screenshot below. It has a front and back similar to ships we see on the water today. Takes a few seconds to see it clearly. Let your eyes adjust to the black/white for a few seconds.

In the screenshot below, there is an alien base. Each part is made of separate rectangle sections and is easy to make out.

Below is a structure I found that reveals part of its wall and a black shiny dome over it.