Deepak Chopra on Synchronicity

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

Synchronicity, Evolution, & Your Genes (Part 1)

In SF Gate – On March 30, 2015

By Deepak Chopra, MD.

Over the past decade, the hunt for genetic connections with behavior as intensified. For any experience, there must be a physical activity in the brain—otherwise, the experience has no basis. Using this irrefutable assumption, researchers have looked for the seat of anger, criminal behavior, gender identification, the sense of self, and many other aspects of human nature. This includes spirituality. Where is God in the brain? To many neuroscientists, that’s not only a valid question but the only one worth asking, insofar as spiritual experiences have any reality.

Now we are hearing about “God in the genes,” as genetics overtakes neuroscience for the top spot in explaining the roots of human experience. Where the brain operates only in the present, genetics peers deep into the past. A geneticist would want to know what evolutionary advantage early humans got from being spiritual—in the broadest sense of the word—that led to a better chance to survive. This whole line of inquiry, whether we’re taking about the brain or our genes, makes sense if you are a materialist. But it runs the danger of saying that spirituality is only about the physical side of the experience, as if music could never be discussed except by looking at pianos and radios, the physical side of delivering the musical experience.

The materialist explanation is filled with philosophical flaws, but instead of focusing on that, it’s more productive to ask how the brain and genes relate to spiritual experience. The physical side must be accounted for, without making it the whole story. To explore a new kind of explanation that embraces both the physical and non-physical, let’s examine an experience that most people have had. Without experiencing God, angels, the soul, or other traditionally religious things, almost everyone has had at least one or two inexplicable coincidences in their lives.

Synchronicity is the commonly used term for a meaningful coincidence, such as thinking someone’s name and having that person telephone a few seconds later, or opening a book at random and finding the answer to a problem you’ve been wrestling with. Synchronicity doesn’t feel random, which is how it is differentiated from coincidences that have no meaning but happen by chance. The spiritual link involves how to explain a meaningful coincidence. When someone is rescued through a string of chance events, did God intervene? If a car is stranded by the side of the road and a stranger appears out of nowhere to offer help, is God answering a need or a prayer? Events without causes lead to all kinds of unusual explanations.

The term synchronicity was coined by the eminent Swiss psychologist Carl Jung for a phenomenon he experienced with clients in psychotherapy. He first publically discussed synchronicity in a short essay describing synchronicity as an “acausal connecting principle”. By using the word acausal he is pointing to the non-local nature of synchronicity. Non-locality is one of the major principles in quantum physics. Non-locality refers to behavior between particles that doesn’t need a specific cause or location in spacetime. Hitting a billiard ball with a cue entails both a cause and a location. The location is the point where the tip of the cue strikes the ball. The force of the strike is the cause that moves the ball.

But in the quantum domain there is a mystery known as action at a distance, where two particles react to each other instantaneously, even though they can be separated by light years. The action occurs without regard for distance or the limitation of the speed of light. Action at a distance has been popularly explained as “You tickle the universe here, and it laughs over there.” Two particles that mirror each other’s behavior are said to be entangled, although the mechanism behind action at a distance is unknown. Entanglement fits the mathematical model underlying quantum mechanics, and that is what counts when physics is arriving at reliable, precise calculations.

In the everyday world, however, non-locality is about people, not particles. It’s part of human experience to have a meaningful coincidence happen that feels too profound—or too spooky—to feel random. A strict materialist would dismiss such feelings as unreliable and subjective, but “meaningful” isn’t simply subjective. Finding meaning in our lives, from any source, is essential. So how can we fit synchronicity into a broader context?

The key is to connect inner and outer, because synchronicity is about an event “out there” that has sudden meaning “in here.” To make the connection, nine principles apply to genuinely synchronous coincidences.

1. Synchronicity is a conspiracy of improbabilities. The entangled events break the boundaries of statistical probability).

2. The improbable events conspiring to create the synchronistic event are acausally related to each other. (Buddhist traditions call this interdependent co-arising. This is the equivalent of non-local correlation.)

3. Synchronistic events are orchestrated in the non-local domain.

4. As we become aware of synchronistic events, we move to higher or more expanded states of consciousness.

5. Synchronistic events are actually the result of an intention, which organizes the needed outcome. (The intention may have been introduced consciously or unconsciously.)

6. Synchronistic events vary in importance. They can seem incidental or can change the course of a person’s life.

7. Synchronistic events affect our emotions the way random coincidences don’t. A synchronous event creates the experience of emotional fulfillment and joy.

8. Synchronistic events allow us to discover the meaning and purpose of our life.

9. Synchronistic events are personal. In effect they are messages from our non-local self.

Taken together, these principles enable us to receive clues about the essential unity of two realities that seem to be separate: the inner world of thoughts, feelings, memories, fantasies, desires, and intentions, and the outer world of spacetime events. The inner and outer are the same field, one non-dual consciousness that simultaneously creates both the subjective world and the objective world.

Therefore, synchronicity isn’t simply a passing anomaly that can be shrugged off. Something crucial is happening. In the next post we’ll discuss the implications of that something as it applies to everyday life.

from: https://www.deepakchopra.com/blog/article/5160

Expanding your ‘Purpose’ in Life

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

31st March 2015

By Steve Taylor Ph.D

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Transpersonal Purpose: When we no longer have a purpose but become a purpose.

To have a strong sense of purpose is always beneficial, but it’s important to remember that there are different types and levels of purpose, some of which are more beneficial than others.

The most basic type of purpose for all living beings – including human beings – is survival. Most human beings throughout history – and sadly, probably still most human beings alive today – have been mainly oriented around this purpose. Due to poverty, they’re forced to give most of their time and attention to trying to satisfy their, and their children’s, basic needs for survival, for food, shelter, safety and security. But survival usually isn’t enough in itself…

Even while they’re mainly preoccupied with trying to keep themselves and their children alive, most people need a more rarefied and meaningful type of purpose. Many people gain this through religion, by taking on a pre-existing belief system and aligning their lives with it. Psychologists have found that strongly religious people tend to have higher levels of well-being than the non-religious and the nominally religious, and this is probably largely because of the strong sense of purpose and meaning which religions provide. If you’re strongly religious, there is a clear purpose to everything you do: to follow the conventions and principles of your faith, to attain salvation, and/or to convert other people to your faith.

For many of us in the secular modern world, however, religion may not be a viable source of purpose. In that case, sport may serve a similar function to religion. If you follow a soccer or baseball team, you’re also part of a pre-existing framework of purpose. Your purpose is for the team to win the next match and overall, to win that season’s league or tournament, or at least to perform well, and finish in a good position in the table.

Others may take on what I call a ‘personal accumulative’ purpose. This means that the main purpose of our lives is to accumulate more wealth, more achievement or more status. We might aim to become famous or powerful, or to rise to the higher levels of our profession.

Altruism and Self-Expansion

If we move beyond a self-centered egoic orientation, our purpose may become altruistic or idealistic, where we’re not so concerned with our own well-being so much as other people’s. Our main aim might be to improve or contribute to their society, or contribute to the human race in general. We might devote our time and energy to aiding the development of other people, helping them to overcome obstacles or acting to alleviate their suffering. Significantly, research in positive psychology has found that, although a materialistic or ‘personal accumulative’ purpose can have beneficial effects, purpose is most beneficial when it is based on altruism.

Transpersonal Purpose - Power of Purpose

Another type of purpose which emerges when we move beyond an egoic orientation is self-expansion, or self-development. (Abraham Maslow referred to this as ‘self-actualisation.’) This is distinct from accumulation in that it’s not about adding wealth or status to yourself, but about uncovering and expressing your potential, and deepening and expanding yourself. For many people, this happens through creativity, or through hobbies and experiences which challenge them and help them to grow. This could include intellectual growth, based on curiosity and a desire to understand the world. It could also refer to spiritual growth. A person who is mainly oriented around a ‘self-expansive’ purpose may undergo therapy to try to overcome obstacles to their development, or meditate regularly in order to try to facilitate a shift in awareness. They may have an impulse to expand or intensify their consciousness, by following a spiritual path such as Buddhism or Yoga.

I’ve spoken about them separately, but often an altruistic/idealistic purpose and a self-expansive purpose combine. That is, people who are altruistic and idealistic are often focused on self-development at the same time. They’re both facets of trans-egoic development, when the main aim of our lives is no longer to protect, enhance and bolster the ego. (It’s also possible, however, that a person who is mainly oriented around a personal accumulative purpose may have be altruistic/idealistic purpose to some degree, and vice-versa. This might be the case when a person has partly – but not fully – moved beyond ego-orientation, for example.)

Transpersonal Purpose

When we follow an idealistic, altruistic, creative or spiritual purpose, we may reach a point where our purpose becomes transpersonal. This emerges as we move further beyond an egoic orientation, when our own desires, interests and fears begin to fade in importance, and we connect to a larger superconscious source, for which we become the expression. It’s a question of us uncovering a deep, authentic purpose inside us – a purpose which is natural to us, which is an expression of our innate potentials and inclinations – and aligning ourselves to it. Then we become the channel for a purpose which is flowing through us. Rather than us carrying the purpose forward, the purpose begins to carry us. We may not even have a clear idea about what our purpose is – but we trust it, and allow it to flow through us.

At this point, purpose becomes more effortless. We don’t need to strain or exhaust ourselves pushing our purpose forward, trying to realise our ambitions or achieve our goals. We don’t need to push anymore because we can just flow with the purpose, and allow it to take us forward. There can be an intoxicating sense of momentum, as if we’re swimming with the current of a fast-flowing river.

The important thing is for us to step aside – that is, to put our own personal interests, desires and fears to one side, so that we don’t block or distort our purpose. It’s especially easy for us to let our fears stand in the way of our purpose – for example, a general fear of attracting attention, of fear of embarrassment or humiliation, or of appearing arrogant.

Many creative artists experience transpersonal purpose. They follow their inspiration, and are never wholly sure where it’s going to take them, or what it’s going to express. I often experience it when I write books. I have a rough idea of where I’m going, a rough structure which I try to follow, but the book carries me along, and I’m always surprised at the material which comes through – connections, ideas and concepts which I was never expecting.

Transpersonal Purpose and the Impulse for Spiritual Development

Many people who devote their lives to spiritual exploration and development are following a transpersonal purpose too. Their urge to expand or intensify their consciousness stems from a deep-rooted evolutionary impulse which they may not even be consciously aware of. In my view, this impulse is fundamentally the same impulse which has impelled the process of evolution from the beginnings of life hundreds of millions of years ago: an impulse towards greater intensification of consciousness, by which living beings become more complex, more aware of reality, and more aware of themselves.

Spiritual traditions describe transpersonal purpose as a characteristic of the ‘awakened’ or ‘enlightened’ state, in which the individual no longer has a will of their own, but is the expression of the will of the divine. In the Taoist tradition, the individual who has realised their true nature as Tao follows the wu-wei chih-Tao, ‘the non-striving Way of Transcendence,’ in which the Tao flows through them. They live in a state of ‘actionless activity’ (wu-wei). In the Christian mystical tradition, phrases such as ‘self-annihilation’ and ‘self-naughting’ are used in a similar way – the mystic empties himself (or herself) in order to allow God to emerge and express Himself through them. Similarly, in the Bhagavad-Gita, a great deal of emphasis is placed on ‘unattached action’ – acting without being concerned about results, simply doing what is right and appropriate. While in Sufism, the ‘awakened’ state is referred as Baqa, and one of its characteristics is that the person has no will of their own, but lives in and through God, in a state of ecstasy. They no longer have a sense of planning their own life, or making things happen. Life unfolds naturally and spontaneously through them, by virtue of divine power.

With some types of purpose, particular the personal accumulative, there’s the possibility of becoming too future-focused, and losing our orientation in the present. We might become so focused on our goals, and so determined to reach them, that the present loses significance for us, and becomes just a means of reaching the future. We might spend so much time looking forward that we forget to look around. However, this certainly doesn’t have to be the case. So long as we’re not too rigidly focused on our destination, we can still live in the present at the same as moving with the flow of our purpose, in the same way that a person on a train journey can enjoy the experience of the journey. A sense of direction and purpose can actually enhance the journey, by giving us a greater sense of connection and appreciation. And at the transpersonal level, there is little focus on the future at all, just a surrender to the creative or spiritual force which is flowing through us. The invigorating impersonal momentum of the flow of purpose illuminates the present.

Human beings are naturally dynamic. Growth is an intrinsic part of our nature. Life on earth has always been dynamic, as expressed through the process of evolution. Life has always had innate tendency to grow towards greater complexity, to become more organised, and more conscious. So when we feel a sense of purpose, we’re really aligning ourselves with this dynamic impulse, which is possibly why following a sense of purpose feels so right, and is so beneficial. And at the transpersonal level, we become the manifestation and expression of this impulse, become a channel through which is flows directly. When we reach this point, we no longer have a purpose, we are a purpose.

from: http://wakeup-world.com/2015/03/31/transpersonal-purpose-and-the-impulse-for-spiritual-development/

Inuits Warn ‘Earth has Shifted’

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

“Earth has shifted”-Inuit elders issue warning to NASA and the world

January 5, 2015

Voltar Ondrusek, Pixdaus

Inuit elders say the earth has shifted, tilted or as they put it, “wobbled” to the north and they all agree “Their sky has changed!” They say it is becoming increasingly hard to predict the weather, something that is a must in the Arctic.

The Inuits are indigenous people that inhabit the arctic regions of Canada, the United States and Greenland and throughout history their very lives have been dependent on being able to correctly forecast weather…. and they are warning NASA and the world that global warming isn’t the cause of what we are seeing with extreme weather, earthquakes and other events.

en.wikipedia.org

Inuits believe their lives have been affected by a shift. The elders who were interviewed across the north all said the same thing, their sky has changed. The stars, the sun and the moon have all changed affecting the temperature and even affecting the way the wind blows. It is becoming increasingly hard to predict the weather, something that is a must on the Arctic.

The earth has shifted, tilted or as they put it, “wobbled” to the north and they all agree “Their sky has changed!”

The elders maintain the Sun doesn’t rise where it used to, they have longer daylight to hunt and the Sun is higher than it used to be and warms up quicker than before. The elders who were interviewed across the north all said the same thing, their sky has changed.

The stars the Sun and the Moon have all changed affecting the temperature, even affecting the way the wind blows, it is becoming increasingly hard to predict the weather, something that is a must on the Arctic.

The elders all agree, they believe the Earth has shifted, wobbled or tilted to the North.

In an article in The Big Wobble Almanac, and in a video, we see some of the extreme weather events being attributed to this “wobble.”

In the article it states that NASA scientists and experts are “worried” by the information the Inuit Elders are providing for them.

from: http://www.newspaper.indianlife.org/story/2015/01/05/news/earth-has-shifted-inuit-elders-issue-warning-to-nasa-and-the-world/582.html

Showing “Spooky Action at a Distance”

Posted on April 1, 2015 by marcia

Proving Einstein Wrong with ‘Spooky’ Quantum Experiment

by Jesse Emspak, Live Science Contributor | March 26, 2015

Credit: agsandrew | Shutterstock

Quantum mechanics is one of the best-tested theories in science, and it’s one of the few where physicists get to do experiments proving that Einstein was wrong.

That’s what a team at Griffith University and the University of Tokyo in Japan did this week, showing that a weird phenomenon — in which the measurement of a particle actually affects its location — is real.

Back in the 1920s and 1930s, Albert Einstein said he couldn’t support this idea, which he called “spooky action at a distance,” in which a particle can be in two places at once and it’s not until one measures the state of that particle that it takes a definite position, seemingly with no signal transmitted to it and at a speed faster than light. When the particle takes its definite position, physicists refer to this as its wave function collapsing.

Quantum mechanics is one of the best-tested theories in science, and it’s one of the few where physicists get to do experiments proving that Einstein was wrong.

The phenomenon was outside of contemporary experience in physics and seemed to violate the theory of relativity, which posits that the speed of light is an absolute limit on how fast any information can travel. Einstein proposed that theparticle isn’t in a superposition state, or two places at once; but rather it always has a “true” location, and people just couldn’t see it. [How Quantum Entanglement Works (Infographic)]

Using a single photon (particle of light), the Australian and Japanese researchers ran an experiment showing that measuring a property of a quantum particle in one place will affect what one sees in another place. That is, they showed that superposition and collapsing wave function are real phenomena.

Alice and Bob

The phenomenon is demonstrated with a thought experiment in which a light beam is split, with one half going to Alice and the other to Bob. Alice then indicates if she detected a photon and if so what state it is in — it might be the phase of the wave packet that describes the photon. Mathematically, though, the photon is in a state of “superposition,” meaning it is in two (or more) places at once. Its wave function, a mathematical formula that describes the particle, seems to show the photon has no definite position.

“Alice’s measurement collapses the superposition,” meaning the photons are in one place or another, but not both, Howard Wiseman, director of Griffith University’s Centre for Quantum Dynamics, who led the experiment, told Live Science. If Alice sees a photon, that means the quantum state of the light particle in Bob’s lab collapses to a so-called zero-photon state, meaning no photon. But if she doesn’t see a photon, Bob’s particle collapses to a one-photon state, he said.

“Does this seem reasonable to you? I hope not, because Einstein certainly didn’t think it was reasonable. He thought it was crazy,” he added, referring to the fact that Alice’s measurement looked like it was dictating Bob’s.

The paradox was partially resolved years later, when experiments showed that even though the interaction between two quantum particles happens faster than light (it appears instantaneous), there is no way to use that phenomenon to send information, so there’s no possibility of faster-than-light signals. [10 Implications of Faster-Than-Light Travel]

Splitting photons

The team at Griffith, though, wanted to go a step further and show that the collapsing wave function — the process of Alice “choosing” a measurement and affecting Bob’s detection — is actually happening. And while other experiments have shown entanglement with two particles, the new study entangles a photon with itself.

To do this they fired a beam of photons at a splitter, so half of the light was transmitted and half was reflected. The transmitted light went to one lab and the reflected light went to the other. (These were “Alice” and “Bob” of the thought experiment.)

The light was transmitted as a single photon at a time, so the photon was split in two. Before the photon was measured, it existed in a superposition state.

One lab (Alice) used a laser as a reference, to measure the phase of the photon. If one thinks of light as a repeating sine wave, phase is the angle one is measuring, from 0 to 180 degrees. When Alice changed the angle of her reference laser, she got varying measurements of the photon: Either her photon was in a certain phase or it wasn’t present at all.

Then the other lab (or Bob) looked at their photons and found the photons were anti-correlated with Alice — if she saw a photon he did not, and vice versa. The state of Bob’s photon depended on what Alice measured. But in classic physics that shouldn’t happen; rather, the two particles should be independent of one another.

Quantum computing

Akira Furusawa, professor of applied physics at the University of Tokyo and one of the co-authors on the study, said the experiment helps explore different kinds of quantum information processing — and with it, communications and computing.

“Usually there are two types of quantum information processing,” he said. “There’s the qubit type, the digital information processing, and there’s continuous variable, a sort of analog type of quantum information. We are trying to combine them.” Conventional processing often relies on counting photons, but this kind of measurement of single photons is more efficient, he said.

Wiseman said one application is in the security of communications.

“Our experiment is a more rigorous test of the properties of such states than has ever been done before, in the sense that we don’t have to trust anything that is happening in Alice’s laboratory. This could be useful for communicating secrets when not all the parties are trusted.”

The experiment is described in the March 24 issue of the journal Nature Communications.

from: http://www.livescience.com/50262-spooky-action-is-real.html

Your Color VIbe for Tuesday, 3/31

Posted on March 31, 2015 by marcia

Tuesday, March 31: Beet Red

There is a lot going on energetically today, and you are going to feel it. Not all of it will be high energy however. You can find yourself at one moment ready to go, and the next, just wanting to sit it out. It is what it is. Do not question too much what is going on. Just let it be. You can find also that some people around you are going to be quick to judge and criticize. It is best not to fall into their stuff. This is a day also for being a little cautious of yourself and loved ones. Those bumps in the road are stilt here, and it is a good idea to make sure that you are protected and grounded before going out and to keep an eye on the ones you care for.

Incoming Solar WInd

Posted on March 31, 2015 by marcia

SOLAR WIND STREAMS–HITS AND MISSES: A solar wind stream expected to hit Earth on March 29-30 has apparently missed. It likely sailed south of our planet. The good news for sky watchers is, another one is on the way. It is flowing from this gaping coronal hole on the sun:

Image credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory

Coronal holes are places in the sun’s atmosphere where the magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. In the extreme UV image, above, curved lines trace the sun’s magnetic field; arrows indicate the flow of gaseous material (solar wind) out of the deep-purple coronal hole.

Because this coronal hole crosses the sun’s equator, the solar wind it spews is likely to hit Earth squarely–no misses, this time. ETA: April 2nd or 3rd.

fr/spaceweather.com

Earthquake w/Tsunami Risk – PNG

Posted on March 31, 2015 by marcia

Damaging earthquake with Tsunami risk off the coast of New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Last update: March 31, 2015 at 10:57 am by By Armand Vervaeck

Update March 31 :
The article below comes from the Papua New Guinean newspaper “The National“

Update 09:16 UTC : The tsunami threat was inflicted by the type of earthquake, a mainly thrust mechanism who is responsible for an upwards movement of the water column on top of the epicenter ( “Understanding Beach Balls” article)

Update 03:30 UTC : TSUNAMI THREAT LARGELY OVER

Update 01:51 UTC : USGS has recalculates its data and now reports a Magnitude of 7.5 at a depth of 40 km

Update 01:40 UTC : Tsunami Message nr. 3 from the PTWC (almost no change)

Update 01:33 UTC : Robert Speta, meteorologist at NHK Tokyo did send the following tweet, which is in part hopeful but at the downside we do not like to see the word damage.

Update 01:25 UTC : Dr. James Daniell from CEDIM, Karlsruhe, Germany has put all data in his model and is getting a chance of 0 to 2 fatalities and 0 to 10 injuries.

Update 01:20 UTC : 3 buoys (the biggest yellow diamonds) are currently blinking which means that they have detected a change in level (tide omitted)

Update 01:15 UTC : New version of the GDACS Tsunami waves expectation list (the full list can be consulted here) :

Update 01:01 UTC : Professor Max Wyss, specialized in computing human impact has published his report and he expects 0 to 20 fatalities and 20 to 200 injured. We at Earthquake-report.com do expect, based on the current parameters, that there is only a small chance for injuries. PNG is however a nation who has not a good reputation in listing the exact number of injured as most of the country is not accessible by road.

Update 00:59 UTC : PNG is used to strong swaying and massive earthquakes. The biggest treat is however tsunamis but people living in coastal areas are also used to auto-evacuate immediately after they feel strong shaking. Tsunami waves can however inflict serious damage along the coasts.

Update 00:50 UTC : GDACS has issued a list of theoretical tsunami heights. The main treat area are the closest coasts of New Britain and New Ireland. The depth of the hypocenter is an important factor for the calculation of the wave height.

IMPORTANT UPDATE 00:37 UTC : PLEASE READ THIS MESSAGE CAREFULLY IF YOU LIVE ON THE COASTS OF THE FOLLOWING ISLANDS

Update 00:31 UTC : Damage is possible but as people are used to very strong earthquakes on PNG and as the epicenter if below the ocean we expect only limited damage. We are more concerned about the tsunami treat.

Update 00:17 UTC : Official Tsunami message from the PWTC : HAZARDOUS TSUNAMI WAVES FROM THIS EARTHQUAKE ARE POSSIBLE
WITHIN 1000 KM OF THE EPICENTER ALONG THE COASTS OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS

Update 00:14 UTC : Very strong shaking expected in a wide radius. Due to the hypocenter at intermediate depth the shaking will have been weakened but will be still very strong.

54km (34mi) SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
282km (175mi) ENE of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea
309km (192mi) SE of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea
367km (228mi) WNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea
789km (490mi) NE of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 7.4

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2015-03-30 09:48:28

GMT/UTC Time : 2015-03-29 23:48:28

from: http://earthquake-report.com/2015/03/30/massive-earthquake-new-britain-region-p-n-g-on-march-29-2015/

Sturdy Houseplants to Clean the Air

Posted on March 29, 2015 by marcia

9 Houseplants That Clean The Air And Are Almost Impossible To Kill

March 29, 2015 Steven Bancarz

Pop quiz: which is more polluted, indoor air or outdoor air? 10 times out of 10, indoor air in your house, office or apartment is going to be worse than the air outside. Indoor air pollution has been ranked among the top 5 greatest risks to public health by the EPA, and stagnant indoor air allows pollutants to build up and stick to the things inside of your home.

The things in our homes emit some nasty toxic chemicals, like formaldehyde for example. You can also be impacted by pollutants like pollen, bacteria, mold, dust and various outdoor contaminants that find their way inside.

Fortunately, houseplants can help us solve some of these air quality issues. Even if you don’t have a green thumb, these houseplants are basically impossible to kill. Let’s check them out!

1) Garden Mum

This plant was found by NASA to be a real air-purifying beast. It removes ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde, and xylene from your home’s air. It’s popular and inexpensive, plus they can be planted outside too.

2) Spider Plant

Spider plants are incredibly easy to grow, so if you’re a beginner, this is a great one to start with. It lights bright, indirect light and sends out shoots with flowers on them that will eventually grow into baby spider plants that you can propagate yourself. Before too long, you’ll have more spider plants than you’ll know what to do with.

3) Dracaena

There are over 40 kinds of dracaena plants, which makes it easy to find the right one for you. They remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and xylene from the air. They are toxic to cats and dogs though, so if you have pets, you might want to think twice about this one.

4) Ficus

Ficus trees are a favorite of mine as they are able to grow quite large depending on the type of pot you have them in. They typically stand between 2 and 10 feet tall and have some serious air cleaning abilities. You can also keep it outside in the spring and summer. The ficus removes benzene, trichloroethylene and formaldehyde from indoor air.

5) Peace Lily

Not only does the peace lily send up beautiful flowers, but they’re impossible to kill and have great air cleaning abilities. They flower through most of the summer and prefer shady spots with moist but not soggy soil. It removes ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.

6) Boston Fern

This plant likes cool locations with high humidity and indirect light. Bathrooms are a perfect spot for these little friends. They remove pollutants like xylene and formaldehyde from indoor air.

7) Snake Plant

I see this one all over the place in offices and restaurants – and for good reason. They’re pretty much impossible to kill. They need water only occasionally (about once per month) and prefer drier conditions. They don’t need much direct sunlight either. They remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene and xylene from indoor air.

8) Bamboo Palm

Bamboo palms are most effective at filtering formaldehyde. They thrive in full sun and bright light. They grow as high as 12 foot too, making them an incredible presence indoors. They remove benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene.

9) Aloe Vera

Aloe is a multi-use plant for sure. It has health benefits when consumed in smaller amounts, helps relieve burns, and cleans your indoor air as well. It removes formaldehyde effectively from indoor air.

Having these plants inside your house will dramatically improve air quality, and will also provide you with an increases sense of being connected to nature. You’ll be surprised how much life a single plant can add to a room!

Source: This article was written by Jesse Herman of Powerful Primates, and was used with permission from the author from powerfulprimates.com

from: http://thespiritscience.net/2015/03/29/9-houseplant-clean-the-air-and-are-almost-impossible-to-kill/

Some Old Tapes to Get Rid Of

Posted on March 27, 2015 by marcia

15 Things You Should Stop Putting Yourself Through

By: Luminita D. Saviuc, Purpose Fairy, where this was originally featured.

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

A lot of people put themselves through unnecessary pain because of the many unhealthy thoughts, beliefs and behaviors they have. They are so unconscious of their unconsciousness that they blame outside forces for how unhappy they are… They want the world to stop hurting them, when in fact they themselves are hurting themselves.

We are the center of our own personal universe. The thoughts we think, the words we speak, the beliefs we hold and the things we do, they all set the tone for how people, and life in general will treat us… If we want the world to stop treating us unkindly, we have to make sure that we ourselves stop doing the things that cause us pain and suffering. We have to make sure that we ourselves stop hurting ourselves.

Here are 15 things you should stop doing to yourself, things that will help clear out your mind, your heart, your body and your life of everything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy, allowing only good things to come your way.

1. Stop postponing your happiness for the future

Happiness is a journey, not a destination. And if you can’t be happy in this moment, right here, right now, chances are that you will never be happy. Always remember that “There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special. And remember that time waits for no one. So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Saturday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your song comes on, until you’ve had a drink, until you’ve sobered up, until you die, until you are born again, to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.” ~ Unknown

2. Stop polluting yourself with negative thoughts

The quality of your life is in direct proportion with the quality of your thoughts.If you want your life to get better, to look better, and to feel better, you have to stop intoxicating yourself with all kind of negative, self-defeating and toxic thoughts.

3. Stop arguing for your limitations

There are no limits to what we can be, do and have in life, expect the ones we choose to impose on ourselves. And those who continue to argue for their limitations, they will continue to create their life from a place of limitations. Because just like Richard Bach said it, “when you argue for your limitations, sure enough they’re yours.”

4. Stop telling yourself that you’re not ENOUGH

Have you heard the saying, “Be careful how you are talking to yourself because you are listening”? Well, guess what. If you continue to tell yourself the same old sad stories about you not being good enough, smart enough, young enough, valuable enough, rich enough, and so on, you will continue to act upon these toxic beliefs and you will continue to attract people and experiences in your life that will prove to you that you are right. Because guess what? Life always gives you the experiences that you yourself think, and feel, worthy of receiving. Because that’s how much life loves you.

5. Stop hanging out with the wrong crowd

Jim Rohn once said that you are the average of the 5 people you spend most of your time with, and from personal experience I can tell you that that’s true. If you surround yourself with all kind of negative and toxic people, people who loooove to complain about everything and everyone, and who expect the whole world to change so that they can finally be happy, then you will start to mirror their behavior. And without you even knowing it, you will start to believe the same things that they believe, and behave in the same way that they behave.

6. Stop waiting for life to begin

This moment is your life. And if you waste this moment by waiting for life to begin, then you will waste your whole life waiting. Failing to realize that while were waiting for life to begin, your life was already unfolding.

“Waiting is a state of mind. Basically, it means that you want the future; you don’t want the present. You don’t want what you’ve got, and you want what you haven’t got. With every kind of waiting, you unconsciously create inner conflict between your here and now, where you don’t want to be, and the projected future, where you want to be. This greatly reduces the quality of your life by making you lose the present.” ~ The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

7. Stop complaining

If you don’t like something, change it. And if you can’t change it, change the way you look at it. Change your attitude, change your perception, but stop complaining. Because trust me, complaining won’t make things better, on the contrary, it will make them worse.

8. Stop comparing yourself to other people

Your job here on this Earth isn’t to be better than other people, but better than you used to be. Better today than you were yesterday. Your job is to be better than yourself, not better than other people.

Instead of looking to your left and to your right to see what other people are preoccupied with, and instead of wasting your precious time and energy to compare yourself, and your life, to everyone else, you might want to save that energy and channel it into something that will make you happy, and bring you peace of mind.

9. Stop dwelling on the past

Each day offers you a new chance to start all over. To leave the past behind you and start a new life. So learn to treasure this beautiful gift that life is offering you. Leave the dead bury their own dead, and move on with your life.

10. Stop seeking for love in all the wrong places

Why are you looking for love in all the wrong places when there is so much love hidden deep within you, eagerly waiting to be discovered? Find the love that lies within you. Become one with it, and then the whole world will shower you with love. Just like you always wanted.

11. Stop worrying

Leave your worries behind you, they serve you no good.

12. Stop being ungrateful

Those who are ungrateful for what they have, they will lose the gifts that were bestowed on them by life. And when those gifts will be taken away from them, then they will realize how much they had to be grateful for. There is so much to be grateful for in this world, so much to appreciate. And the more you get into the habit of expressing your gratitude for the life you are living, and for the many wonderful things that are present in your life, the more life will give you to be thankful for.

13. Stop trying so hard to make everyone like you

If you want people to like you, stop trying so hard. Yes, you heard me. Stop trying so hard. If you want the world to rave about you, and if you want people to like you, instead of chasing and begging for their love and approval, get busy living your life in a way that will make people curious about you and your life. Get busy with creating things that you are passionate about, things that make your heart sing with joy, and if you do this, not only will people love you, but you yourself will love yourself. And that my friend, will make you very happy.

14. Stop doubting yourself

Have faith in who you are. Know that there is a force in you that is more powerful than anything you have ever known. Stop doubting yourself, and learn to trust this force. Learn to trust yourself, your inner wisdom, your inner power, but also the wisdom of life. Know that none of us is here by accident, none of us is flawed. We all have unique gifts and talents that are needed in this world. Who we are matters. Who you are matters.

“Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars.” ~ Serbian Proverb

15. Stop taking your sense of worth from outside of you

“Why are you so enchanted by this world, when a mine of gold lies within you?” ~ Rumi

There are things in life that we do, and things that we are. That which we are, is eternal, and that which we have, is temporary. Never look outside of you for things, people and experiences to confirm your sense of value and your worth. Never get your sense of worth from outside of you, for that will only enslave you, putting at the mercy of things, people and experiences you have little or no control over.

P.S. I know there is a lot of stopping but I guess we all need to be reminded of how much we are damaging ourselves and our lives because of our thoughts, beliefs, actions and behaviors. And I guess that’s a lot more harmful than me using the stop word.

from: http://themindunleashed.org/2015/03/15-things-you-should-stop-putting-yourself-through.html

Something About Tin Foil Hats

Posted on March 26, 2015 by marcia

The History Of The Tin Foil Hat

In5D March 23, 2015

by Gregg Prescott, M.S.
Editor, In5D.com

We have all heard of the tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorists but where did the aluminum foil hat idea come from, why do people wear tin foil hats and what are its origins?

Why would someone wear an aluminum foil hat?

The History Of The Tin Foil Hat | In5D.com People wear tinfoil hats to:

prevent extraterrestrial, governmental or secret society mind control
prevent others from using ESP on them and
deter EMPs and other microwave effects.

What is the oldest origin of tin foil hats?

One story states that the tin foil hat has its origins tied into the opposition of freemasonry when it began in 1717. As the story goes, non Freemasons were suspicious of the brotherhood and believed that the Mason were using forms of mind control on them. They began their own fraternity, called the “Mad Hatters” and upon learning about the protective properties of aluminum foil, they created their own hats made of this substance.

The Mad Hatters believed if you were wearing a tin foil hat, you were impervious to the mind control of the Freemasons.

The History Of The Tin Foil Hat | In5D.com

What is the oldest recorded use of tinfoil hats?

The first recorded use of tin foil hats happened in 1927 as derived from a short story by Julian Huxley entitled, “The Tissue-Culture King” in which the protagonist discovers that “caps of metal foil” will block the effects of telepathy”. This was published in “The Yale Review” in April of 1926.

The History Of The Tin Foil Hat | In5D.com

The following is an excerpt:

Well, we had discovered that metal was relatively impervious to the telepathic effect, and had prepared for ourselves a sort of tin pulpit, behind which we could stand while conducting experiments. This, combined with caps of metal foil, enormously reduced the effects on ourselves.

Is there any scientific basis for wearing a tin foil hat?

Perhaps?

According to wiki:

The notion that a tin foil hat can significantly reduce the intensity of incident radio frequency radiation on the wearer’s brain has some scientific validity, as the effect of strong radio waves has been documented for quite some time.

A well-constructed tin foil enclosure would approximate a Faraday cage, reducing the amount of (typically harmless) radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation passing through to the interior of the structure.

A common high school physics demonstration involves placing an AM radio on tin foil, and then covering the radio with a metal bucket. This leads to a noticeable reduction in signal strength. The efficiency of such an enclosure in blocking such radiation depends on the thickness of the tin foil, as dictated by the skin depth, the distance the radiation can propagate in a particular non-ideal conductor. For half-millimetre-thick tin foil, radiation above about 20 kHz (i.e., including both AM and FM bands) would be partially blocked, although tin foil is not sold in this thickness, so numerous layers of tin foil would be required to achieve this effect.

The M.I.T. Tinfoil Hat Experiment

A scientific research report entitled, “On The Effectiveness of Aluminum Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study” was done in 2005 and it looked at the efficacy of three different styles of tin foil hats: The Classical, The Fez and The Centurion.

The History Of The Tin Foil Hat | In5D.com

In a slight contrast to the effects of the Faraday Cage, their results found the following:

The helmets amplify frequency bands that coincide with those allocated to the US government between 1.2 Ghz and 1.4 Ghz. According to the FCC, These bands are supposedly reserved for ”radio location” (ie, GPS), and other communications with satellites. The 2.6 Ghz band coincides with mobile phone technology. Though not affiliated by government, these bands are at the hands of multinational corporations.

It requires no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the current helmet craze is likely to have been propagated by the Government, possibly with the involvement of the FCC. We hope this report will encourage the paranoid community to develop improved helmet designs to avoid falling prey to these shortcomings.

Interestingly, there was a video of this but it was removed from YouTube. Is this a conspiracy?

The M.I.T. results do not dismiss the properties and effects of the Faraday Cage but it does give some credence to the types of frequencies that foil can block and to what extent the Ghz. range is in which the tinfoil hat would be ineffective.

Tin For The Win!

In an archived article in 2007, aluminum foil hats can actually be used in defense of the Raytheon Active Denial System technology:

Save your aluminum foil “hats.” According to a technology expert who is familiar with the Raytheon Active Denial System (ADS), tested January 24 at Moody Air Force base in Georgia, the millimeter microwave directed beam weapon can be defeated by a crowd of people using aluminum- or gold-coated Mylar to conduct the beam to ground or even direct it back to the Humvee housing the ADS system. Although the Humvee is shielded, any law enforcement or military personnel standing near the Humvee would get a burning taste of their own medicine if the directed beam were reflected back to its source or to a crowd of police. In addition to aluminum or gold coated Mylar, Mylar reflective space blankets, aluminum coated windshield heat protective screens, and more sophisticated and precise corner cube retro-reflectors or Luneburg spheres can all be used to reflect the millimeter wave beam back to its source.

The History Of The Tin Foil Hat | In5D.com

Regardless of whether you wear a tin foil hat or not, the history of it is quite fascinating. Now, I’m off to the store to buy some aluminum foil….

from: http://in5d.com/the-history-of-the-tin-foil-hat/