Author Archives: marcia

Dumping Stress

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Kate Bratskeir

Associate Editor, Healthy Living

9 & 1/2 Things I’m Not Stressing Over Anymore

Posted: 03/15/2013 8:43 am

Something I find fascinating: You can literally throw away your negative thoughts. In a study done last November, participants were told write down their personal, invalidating beliefs on paper. Those who got to crumple their inner demons and dunk them a la NBA player Terrence Ross into a wastebasket (so maybe it wasn’t as dramatic, but I like to imagine) were less likely to be bogged down by their negativity.

Could the same be true for stressful thoughts?

As a GPS for the Soul editor — someone who reads, writes, Tweets and preaches about stress management all day — I have my own tools that work when stress rears its repugnant head. I know when it’s time to step away from the computer for a break. I’ve stored an arsenal of positive mantras if I’m ever in need of some uplifting perspective. All good. But this doesn’t mean I don’t stress.

So I wonder, could posting a blog on what I’ve resolved to no longer stress about diminish my worry, anxiety and — yes — stress? Once confronted and publically confessed, will the load be lifted (at least a little)?

Editors Sarah Klein, Meredith Melnick and Amanda Chan all did it, and while I’m guessing they’re not cured of stress, they’re lighter for it. Here’s my go:

9 ½ Stressors I’m Crumpling Up and Dumping in the Trash

1. Being A “Good” Dancer.
I will never be a good dancer. This is an objective statement. I don’t move like Jagger, I can’t get low, please don’t ask me to drop it like it’s hot. But rather than lean against the wall and stress, I’m just going to enjoy the music and embrace my inner Elaine.

2. Running Solo.
For me, running is meditative and peaceful. I love the feeling of my mind clearing out, and when I’m back at the door from my morning loop there’s this indescribable lightness that embodies my entire physicality.

Running only becomes stressful when other people enter the equation: Some (looking at you, sisters) persist that I sign up for races to get better, faster, stronger. The few I have completed took me out of the moment: I focused on my pace, the feet in front me and the legs I was able to count as I passed. It’s not serene, it’s competitive — and that’s not the spirit of my running.

And, to their vocal chagrin (I’m sorry!), running with friends makes me self-conscious: Am I running too fast? Do I run kind of weird? Should I be embarrassed for listening to “Climax” on repeat? When I run, I want to be by my lonesome, taking in the sights through my own lens, and feeling the endorphins surge.

I’m opting out of feeling obliged to join anyone — friend or opponent — on a run. And I’m saying “no thanks” without the guilt.

Which brings me to number 2 ½ …

2 ½. Still Running Solo.
I’ve never been one to suffer from FOMO. If anything, I suffer from FOMFTIA (that’s Fear of My Friends Thinking I’m Antisocial). I’m incredibly lucky to have such a loving pack who care to spend time with me, but there are moments, once again, that I prefer being on my own. And there lies the pressure — hence the stressor — of being cajoled to join in the fun. Here’s granting myself more permission to say “no” when an afternoon of reading a book, surfing the web (and being generally nerdy) or window shopping beats out the prospect of day-drinking by a landslide.

3. My Coffee Addiction.
Coffee has been described as a drug (aack!) that may raise your cholesterol, spike your blood pressure and lead to wide-awake nights.

And yet, coffee has been touted for its brilliance: It could lower the risk for depression, cancer and diabetes and it tastes like heaven (scientifically speaking).

So, whatever. The list of things I am not addicted to is a whole lot longer than the list of things to which I am. Science has a lot to work out about coffee, so in the meantime, just let me have this — jitters, shakes and all.

4. My Sense of Direction.
It’s bad, real bad. Once, on my four-hour trip home from college — upstate New York to Long Island — I ended up back at college … after four hours. Really. If I had a GPS surgically implanted it wouldn’t be the worst thing. And now in Manhattan, HopStop and I are in a semi-romantic relationship in lieu of a subway system that turns my brain inside-out. I used to stress about how I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere without technology. Now, instead of stress, I’m going to graciously accept all the help I can get.

5. Being Blind as a Bat.
Nearly every year, I get my eyes checked and my contact lens script raised. I have spent too much time being dramatic and upset over the possibility that I’ll one day not be able to see — realistically I know, it’s genetic, we are an appallingly near-sighted clan. From here on, I’m vowing to take in all the beauty that I have the privilege of looking at, and banking on that miraculous technology to fix my vision in the near future.

6. The Sentimental Things I’ve Lost.
My grandma’s turquoise pendant, that bracelet from an important boyfriend, a beloved, music-making stuffed animal — Lamby. The list goes on — items I’ve attached meaning to that are nowhere to be found. They weigh heavily on shelves inside my head. But as I’m regretting my careless misplacement of these things, I realize now, their memories — the meaningful parts — live right here, written down, typed up, catalogued in this very blog. Which means I haven’t lost these sentiments in the first place, and there’s not a reason to worry about all that’s unfound.

7. Pleasing Everyone at the Dinner Table.
In my experience, people treat vegetarians like strange, starving, picky burdens. I may be strange and picky, but starving I am most certainly not.

Others’ concerns for how I’ll navigate a restaurant menu (“We can’t go there,” “You won’t like this,” “Will this be enough for you?”) can no longer be of my concern.

Just a note: I’d do a jig for skirt steak salad with crumbled feta (sans skirt steak, please) and if it’s one of those bacon-and-brussels-sprout joints, I’m assertive enough to ask them to hold the pig. Don’t worry, people — be happy. I sure am, especially when I get the chance to dine out.

8. Keeping in Touch.
Facebook has done wonders for keeping us connected, to a certain degree. For me, the upset is the conspicuous reminder that I’ve done a poor job of keeping tabs — other than the ones lining my browser — on the many magnificent people who’ve come into my life. Instead of tossing and turning awake, mentally listing the check-up emails that I should be crafting, it’s been decided — here and now — that people float in and out of your life in waves at the times they’re meant to.

9. My Five-Year Plan.
I have plenty of friends who are on a five-year-track: They know just where they want to be and have a neat itinerary for when what will happen and how. Not me.

I’m not sure where I’ll land down the line, but when I hear people recite their life plans like roll call, or they cock their head at me in that way when I say “I dunno,” to what’s next, well, it stresses me out. I value the unknown and I won’t stress about it — I’m looking forward to good things. I’m optimistic (and almost certain) that my dreams are malleable and will mold and mesh with the times. So I’ll let them.

from;    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-bratskeir/stress-less_b_2862035.html?ref=topbar#slide=1624337

On Timing, Hearing, & Outcome

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The Car that Wouldn’t Sell…until I got the Message

Dana Mrkich
a message from Dana Mrkich
Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

I love it when things happen in life to remind you that everything is energy, everything has a perfect right timing, and everything has a reason. For years and years I had my ideal car (at the time) on my vision boards. Finally, 2 years ago, I bought the car only a few days before my birthday. The registration date happened to be on my birthday, and the girl who I bought it from also had my birthday! So it was all meant to be, right?

Not even a week went by before I found out I was pregnant, so I knew that my shiny BMW had a relatively short lifespan in our soon-to-be larger household. By mid last year it was obvious we needed a more spacious car and so we put it up for sale. It felt like I’d just needed to buy this one thing for myself and once I had…well I was more than happy to let it go and move on to the next wonderful chapter of parenthood and the world of SUV’s.

Only…it didn’t sell. Month after month went by. No calls. Almost 6 months went by and still nothing. It’s as if it was invisible. (First clue right there!!!) I knew it didn’t have anything to do with ‘the slow market’ or anything like that. Everything is energy. If it wasn’t selling, there was a reason. Maybe the person who was going to buy it wasn’t ready yet, or maybe on some level I wasn’t yet ready to let it go. I thought and thought about what I could possibly still be holding onto but came up with nothing. Finally my aunty asked me something that I constantly ask others: “Have you journalled about it?” Ummm no, no I haven’t!

I have this theory. When you journal, it’s fairly impossible to continue to avoid an issue or aspect of yourself. Likewise if you’re avoiding journaling (especially if you’re usually a regular journaller, or are receiving little nudges to journal) then it’s probably likely you’re avoiding having to look at something. So off to my journal I went.

Well, clearly this was a very deeply embedded, stubborn issue because I must have journalled for about 4 pages before I finally started to feel that I was cracking through beyond really surface stuff. When you’re journaling about an issue, you really want to keep going until you get those lightbulb moments, that feeling of oh my gosh sudden clarity rush through you. It’s like being a miner, digging, digging, until you hear that ping that tells you that you’ve hit something.

My issue went all the way back to my newborn self, to my Birth Day. Sometimes I think our peeps upstairs must shake their heads at how long it takes us to get the message! Here they were giving me all these signs with my car, to look at my actual Birth Day, but I had only seen the references to my birthday! As was often the case 40 years ago, my dad wasn’t present at my birth and guess what…my little newborn self took on all sorts of beliefs as a result! As a conscious adult I felt clear of these old beliefs, but there was still some part of my newborn self that was still feeling and holding them. These beliefs were around being seen (hello invisible car!), waiting for my dad’s approval and acceptance, and waiting for permission to own my own worth and value and right to be here!

Throughout my life I’ve been aware of the many layers of my birth and dad (and other) issues, aware of the many ways they have manifested and have eventually cleared most of it. However, as is the case with 2013, it’s just not possible to carry even one speck of our old beliefs and baggage forward with us into our new reality. Bless the car sale delay – it was forcing me to look at the last remnants of old issues and beliefs that I really thought I had cleared. Perhaps I had cleared them, only now we’re dealing with deeper layers as we are called to move into higher versions of ourselves.

10 pages of journaling later, the phone started ringing. That week 6 people called – but still, no-one came to see it! Okay, now what? A couple of weeks went by and a good friend asked me “Is the car still on your vision board?” I had to laugh. I hadn’t updated my vision board since before I bought the car, and lately it had been falling off the wall – and I’d been trying to stick it back up only to find it on the floor again the next day. So, a new vision board is definitely on my current to do list, but in the meantime I took the BMW picture off the old vision board. I went and sat outside with the photo, and did a little burning ceremony with it while I expressed all my thoughts of gratitude around what this car had been trying to show me. I blessed the car and the sale delay, because it had made me look at old issues in a new way. It had really called me to step up into a new level of myself and embody a new feeling around no longer waiting for permission to own my worth and value and right to be here (if indeed I was doing this, which apparently according to my birth self I was on some level!) I reclaimed my authority over my own self, I reclaimed my power, and I told my newborn self she was loved and worthy and of value and had a right to be here – not for anything she did or was or had, but just because she was her little divine self. What I really loved is that the car just couldn’t sell, and wouldn’t sell, until I had done this!

A few days later, two days before my 40th birthday which is today, a lovely family called. They came, they saw, and they bought the BMW!

So if there is something in your life that is frustrating you right now, some delay or issue or recurring pattern, take out your journal and ask: What are you trying to tell me? There is always a message – and bless those things that are the messengers because as difficult as they can be to deal with they are hanging in there, holding on to the tough situations, even if we get upset, until we get their message! Now that’s love.

(c) Dana Mrkich 2012. Permission is granted to share this article freely on the condition that the author is credited, and the URL www.danamrkich.com is included.

from:    http://spiritlibrary.com/dana-mrkich/the-car-that-wouldn-t-sell-until-i-got-the-message

Making Visualization Work

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 5 Tips For Making Visualisation Work
David R. Hamilton PhD
a message from David R. Hamilton PhD
Wednesday, 13 March, 2013
Here are 5 tips that can be used to help you get the most out of your visualizations, whether you’re applying them to heal your body, to change your life, or to improve your sports performance.

Believe in yourself

This is why I write about and teach the science behind the mind-body connection. If you understand that you’re always affecting your body with your mind, and that the brain doesn’t distinguish between real and imaginary, you realise that your mind is not some floaty, ethereal, thing that only interprets life events, but something that actually causes changes in the body. This way, you develop faith in yourself, that what you imagine, hope for, or intend, does have effects.

You can only do it right

This is something I say every time I guide people through a visualization process. Many people think they can’t visualise because they think everyone else sees in high definition (HD). Trust me, they don’t. But it’s the thought that they do that makes us think we’re doing it wrong. Actually, most people just get a vague set of images. What matters most is your intention and that you’re not thinking that you’re doing it wrong. I like the word, ‘imagine’ rather than visualise, because we all imagine in our own way. When I imagine, I have images in my mind’s eye but they are rarely that clear. For me, it’s more a feeling and sensing thing.

Relax

This can be easier said than done, but a regular practice of relaxing goes a long way to reducing stress in the body, which can only be a good thing. Meditation is great, as is yoga. Physical exercise is also a good way of relaxing. Eating a good diet can also help, one free of stimulants and high amounts of sugar and saturated fat.

Lighten up

I often suggest that people add a tiny bit of humour to their visualizations. This helps get around the worry that it might not work. When we worry, we activate brain areas associated with fear and anxiety. So if we inject a little lightness into the visualization, we retain our concentration on what we’re imagining and we might even help wire our brain networks away from the worry centres so that optimism and hope are born instead of worry. I encourage people to create a ‘victory dance’ to end their visualization. Basically, you do a silly dance of victory after you finish, and you have to do it until you find yourself smiling. This helps wire lightness into the brain.

The 3 R’s – Repetition-Repetition-Repetition

Research shows that we change brain structure through repetition of imagining movements. Brain scans of people playing piano versus people imagining playing it showed the same degree of changes in the same areas of the brain. But to get the changes required repetition of the movements – real or imaginary. When we stop doing the work, the brain regions shrink again. This is why consistency is key. You don’t become Olympic champion by going to the gym once. It’s important to do consistent visualization practice to get the best results.

Copyright 2012 David R. Hamilton PhD.

from:    http://spiritlibrary.com/david-r-hamilton-phd/5-tips-for-making-visualisation-work

D. Jeff Masters on February Weather Records

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February 2013 the globe’s 9th warmest February on record
Published: 2:31 PM GMT on March 15, 2013

February 2013 was the globe’s 9th warmest February since records began in 1880, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on Thursday. February 2013 global land temperatures were the 11th warmest on record, and global ocean temperatures were the 8th warmest on record. February 2013 was the 336th consecutive month with global temperatures warmer than the 20th century average and the 37th straight warmer-than-average February. The last time Earth had a below-average February global temperature was in 1976, and the last below-average month of any kind was December 1984. Global satellite-measured temperatures in February 2013 for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were 10th or 8th warmest in the 35-year record, according to Remote Sensing Systems and the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), respectively. The Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent during February 2013 was the 16th largest in the 47-year period of record. Wunderground’s weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, has a comprehensive post on the notable weather events of February 2013 in his February 2013 Global Weather Extremes Summary. Costly weather disasters were relatively rare in February, according to AON Benfield. The most expensive weather-related disasters in February 2013 were:

1) Drought in Central and Eastern China, 1/1 – 2/28, $541 million
2) Winter storm in Eastern China, 2/18 – 2/21, $124 million
3) Winter Storm Nemo, Northeast U.S., 2/8 – 2/9. $100+ million
4) Hattiesburg, MS tornado and associated storm damage, 2/9 – 2/11, $100+ million

The deadliest February weather disaster was Tropical Cyclone Haruna, which hit Madagascar at 00 UTC Friday, February 22, as a Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds, killing 26.


Figure 1. Departure of temperature from average for February 2013, the 9th warmest February for the globe since record keeping began in 1880. Colder than average conditions occurred in the Western U.S., western Europe, and northern Russia. No land areas in the Southern Hemisphere were cooler than average, and record warm conditions were experienced in parts of Indonesia and northern Australia. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) .


Figure 2. The deadliest weather disaster of February 2013 was Tropical Cyclone Haruna, which hit Madagascar at 00 UTC Friday, February 22, as a Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds, killing 26. In this image, Haruna is over Madagascar at 11:05 UTC February 22, 2013, and was a Category 1 storm with 90 mph winds. Image credit: NASA.


Figure 3. The most expensive weather disaster of February 2013 was the on-going drought in Central and Eastern China, which has cost $541 million since the beginning of 2013. Image credit: Beijing Climate Center.

Neutral El Niño conditions continue in the equatorial Pacific
For the 11th month in row, neutral El Niño conditions existed in the equatorial Pacific during February 2013. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) expects neutral El Niño conditions to last through spring. Temperatures in the equatorial Eastern Pacific need to be 0.5°C below average or cooler for three consecutive for a La Niña episode to be declared; sea surface temperatures were 0.1°C below average as of March 11, and have ranged from 0.1 – 0.6°C below average during 2013.

Arctic sea ice falls to 7th lowest February extent on record
Arctic sea ice extent during February reached its seventh lowest extent in the 35-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). This was the 11th consecutive February and 141st consecutive month with below-average Arctic sea ice extent. The last ten years (2004 to 2013) have seen the ten lowest February extents in the satellite record. Arctic sea ice is nearing its winter maximum and will soon begin to melt.

from:    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/article.html

3/14 California Earthquake Near Geysers Geothermal Project

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Moderate earthquake close to Cobb Mountain and The Geysers geothermal project, Northern California

Last update: March 14, 2013 at 6:22 pm by By

Preliminary Magnitude M4.6 at a shallow depth of 2 km.
The epicenter area is mainly a wilderness area, with only some isolated houses.
We do not expect any damage because of the relatively big distance to the nearest villages (considering the Magnitude).
This area has no historic record (since 1900) of a major earthquake.
Cobb (2000 inhabitants) is expected to have experienced a light shaking and Cloverdale (9000 inhabitants) a weak shaking. Other locations in the area a very weak shaking, probably only felt by a very limited number of people.
Santa Rosa : a (theoretically) “not to be felt” shaking

Northern California earthquake March 14 2013

5km (3mi) WSW of Cobb, California
21km (13mi) SW of Clearlake, California
23km (14mi) NNE of Healdsburg, California
29km (18mi) N of Windsor, California
115km (71mi) WNW of Sacramento, California

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 4.2

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-03-14 02:09:00

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-03-14 09:09:00

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 4 km

Update 18:20 UTC : We have pulled the following “I Have Felt It” report out of the many we received as it came from the epicenter area itself :

March 14, 2013 I awoke to the worst shaking and rumbling I have felt in the 8 and half  years that I have been living in Cobb California.  I am used to the shaking but this was different.  For the first time I wondered if I should get out of the house. There was a second shaking 5 to 10 seconds later and rumbling in the distance for 30 seconds more.

Update 11:41 UTC : It looks like this earthquake has some links with the geothermal project at the nearby The Geysers. The extremely shallow location of the hypocenter (2 km) is another indication of this theory.
Read carefully the text of The Geysers below as we might have set a record today.

The Geysers
The Geysers is a complex of 22 geothermal power plants, drawing steam from more than 350 wells, located in the Mayacamas Mountains 72 mi (116 km) north of San Francisco, California. The largest in the world, the Geysers has 1517 MW[1] of active installed capacity with an average production factor of 63% (955 MW).Calpine Corporation operates and owns 19 of the 22 active plants in the Geysers and is currently the United States’ largest producer of geothermal energy. Two other plants are owned jointly by the Northern California Power Agency and the City of Santa Clara’s municipal Electric Utility(now called Silicon Valley Power). The Bottle Rock Power plant owned by the US Renewables Group was expected to be reopened in 2007. Another plant is under development by Ram Power Corp, formerly Western Geopower, with operation set to begin in 2010. Since the activities of one geothermal plant affects those nearby, the consolidation of plant ownership at The Geysers has been beneficial because the plants operate cooperatively instead of in their own short-term interest.

Seismicity at The Geysers
Current studies of The Geysers Geothermal Field seismicity have reached the conclusion that deep-well injection in the field produces mostly microseismic events between magnitude 0.5-3.0 on the Richter Scale (M).
Worldwide, the largest induced seismic event to date linked to Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) activity was M3.7 in the Cooper Basin of Australia. However, research based on maximum fault lengths indicates that a M5.0 is the largest possible (but not probable) event in the Geysers.
A concern to the residents is not only the amount of seismicity but the magnitude of the largest seismic event likely to occur. Although no one can accurately predict earthquakes, the magnitude of an earthquake is dependent on the surface area that can slip — the length times the depth or width of the fault. Therefore, a large earthquake can occur only on a large fault. There are no mapped faults of large length in The Geysers, so it is extremely unlikely that induced seismicity caused by activities in The Geysers will lead to a large earthquake.

Future
The Geysers electrical plant reached peak production in 1987, at that time serving 1.8 million people. Since then, the steam field has been in gradual decline as its underground water source decreases. Currently, the Geysers produce enough electricity for 1.1 million people.
Techniques developed from Enhanced Geothermal Systems research will increase the production of the region in the future. By reinjecting greywater from the nearby city of Santa Rosa, existing wells will be recharged. This water will be naturally heated in the geothermal reservoir, and be captured by the existing power plants as steam. The project should increase electrical output by 85 MW, enough for about 85,000 homes. (source Wikipedia)

One of The Geysers geothermal plants - Image courtesy Wikipedia

One of The Geysers geothermal plants – Image courtesy Wikipedia

Update 09:36 UTC : Contrary to what we wrote below, this quake may have been felt a little stronger than expected as we received a readers experience from Santa Rosa, stating : “i was watching tv and i felt everything slightly moving. It was a surprise for me”

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/03/14/moderate-earthquake-75-miles-w-of-sacramento-california-on-march-14-2013/

THe Heart and Change

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How the Heart Helps You Chang

By Deborah Rozman

Ever tried to make a change in your life only to fail or come up short on motivation? We all have. What we’ve learned at HeartMath is that when you really want to change, reinforcement will come from your heart. Your heart wants to get out of the negative trap and not have to endure the hurt, resentment and anguish anymore of not making the change you say you want. When you’re ready, your heart will motivate you to improve your relationship, save your job, lose weight or write that book.

What many people don’t realize is that love is integral to motivation. Feelings of care and appreciation move you out of old hurts and resentments as you realize you don’t need to hang onto them as security any longer. Love makes it possible for you to shift to the wide-angle lens of perception. Take Shauna for instance. She was constantly annoyed by her parents. Every time she visited them, she felt her anger triggered. Then Shauna fell in love. Riding high and feeling great about herself, she saw her parents in a new way. Their reactions no longer bothered her. Instead of making her want to run a hundred miles, their reactions slipped off her like water off a duck’s back. Why?

When you’re in love, you open your heart more. The hormones released from being in love give you a more cushioned response to situations. You can build that same cushion from within. You don’t need to wait to fall in love. Learning how to self-generate more love in your system creates that cushion — so you don’t react as quickly to people or events with an angry survival response but respond with a centered response. The heart tools build security — a cushion of inside reinforcement — and inner security is what gives you the power to change.

The heart is really about transformation. That’s part of nature’s design. Your heart is what transforms the physiology of anger that drains your system into the physiology of love that gives you wholeness and effectiveness. You achieve this by replacing angry emotions with real care. Feelings of care and appreciation are the building blocks for love that you build inside yourself. When you replace the anger with care, you choose a more effective emotion. Care transforms perception. Care is an ingredient of intelligence that causes your entire system to work more harmoniously and respond more effectively to resistances that come up in life. Care gives you rhythm. Life happens, negative things happen. Self-generated care enables you to move through the resistances and inconveniences of life with more intelligence and less energy.

For example, say you are in a crowded airport and late getting to your plane. You start to anxiously push your way through the crowd, bumping into luggage and people, frustrated because you can’t move as fast as you need to. You’re angry at whoever is in your way. Your head is driving you. If you stop and use a heart tool, get centered in your heart, and find an attitude of appreciation or care, your flow changes. You see the openings in the throng and feel your way through in a rhythm, dancing around obstacles, getting to your gate with minimum energy expenditure. That’s what tuning to your heart rhythm can do.

The heart rhythm is subtle. To find a smooth rhythm when you need it requires a new reference place inside from which you respond — a heart-intelligent place. That reference place will feel different from your mechanical head, and you’ll come to recognize it. So how do you tell the difference? See my previous post, “Distinguishing Mind from Heart.”

2013-03-10-3_Care2Hearthelps1B7221A.jpg
My heart has led me to change, as well. I knew I needed to go to bed earlier to get more sleep. I had been staying up late to have more time for me after a full day and often evening of work. I’d be tired in the morning and not as clear during the day, but it was hard to break out of that. When I finally got sick, I had a talk with my heart. It gave me a very clear feeling that I needed to turn off the TV and stop earlier and have that time to journal, meditate and create quality time for myself. Those self-care activities were far more rewarding than what I had been doing that I thought was rewarding. That quality time for myself refreshed me and felt really good. I find that if I do something nurturing – not just mind-stimulating – for me – it keeps my heart open and is fulfilling. Using “my time” to connect with my heart and having a creative dialogue between my heart and head inspires and empowers other positive changes in my life.

How do you bring the heart into the changes you want to make? Follow this adaptation of HeartMath’s Heart Lock-In® technique:

  1. Shift your attention to the area of your heart and breathe slowly and deeply.
  2. Activate and sustain a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for the thing you want to change.
  3. Radiate these feelings of care and appreciation toward yourself and your intention for five minutes or longer.
  4. When you catch your mind wandering, simply refocus your attention on the heart area and reconnect with feelings of care and appreciation or other heart qualities.
  5. Notice how this extended radiation of care has affected your body, emotions and thinking.
  6. As you complete your Heart Lock-In, be receptive to your heart’s intuitive guidance. Is there anything your heart would like you to know in this moment about your intention? Write down whatever you quietly sense.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           from:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/heartmath-llc/life-changes_b_2846251.html?utm_hp_ref=gps-for-the-soul&ir=GPS%20for%20the%20Soul

Antibiotic Resistance

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Antibiotic Resistance Poses ‘Catastrophic Threat’ To Medicine, Says Britain’s Top Health Official

Reuters  |  By Kate Kelland Posted: 03/10/2013 11:10 pm EDT

By Kate Kelland

LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) – Antibiotic resistance poses a catastrophic threat to medicine and could mean patients having minor surgery risk dying from infections that can no longer be treated, Britain’s top health official said on Monday.

Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, said global action is needed to fight antibiotic, or antimicrobial, resistance and fill a drug “discovery void” by researching and developing new medicines to treat emerging, mutating infections.

Only a handful of new antibiotics have been developed and brought to market in the past few decades, and it is a race against time to find more, as bacterial infections increasingly evolve into “superbugs” resistant to existing drugs.

“Antimicrobial resistance poses a catastrophic threat. If we don’t act now, any one of us could go into hospital in 20 years for minor surgery and die because of an ordinary infection that can’t be treated by antibiotics,” Davies told reporters as she published a report on infectious disease.

“And routine operations like hip replacements or organ transplants could be deadly because of the risk of infection.”

One of the best known superbugs, MRSA, is alone estimated to kill around 19,000 people every year in the United States – far more than HIV and AIDS – and a similar number in Europe.

And others are spreading. Cases of totally drug resistant tuberculosis have appeared in recent years and a new wave of “super superbugs” with a mutation called NDM 1, which first emerged in India, has now turned up all over the world, from Britain to New Zealand.

Last year the WHO said untreatable superbug strains of gonorrhoea were spreading across the world.

Laura Piddock, a professor of microbiology at Birmingham University and director of the campaign group Antibiotic Action, welcomed Davies’ efforts to raise awareness of the problem.

“There are an increasing number of infections for which there are virtually no therapeutic options, and we desperately need new discovery, research and development,” she said.

Davies called on governments and organisations across the world, including the World Health Organisation and the G8, to take the threat seriously and work to encourage more innovation and investment into the development of antibiotics.

“Over the past two decades there has been a discovery void around antibiotics, meaning diseases have evolved faster than the drugs to treat them,” she said.

Davies called for more cooperation between the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries to preserve the existing arsenal of antibiotics, and more focus on developing new ones.

Increasing surveillance to keep track of drug-resistant superbugs, prescribing fewer antibiotics and making sure they are only prescribed when needed, and ensuring better hygiene to keep infections to a minimum were equally important, she said.

Nigel Brown, president of the Society for General Microbiology, agreed the issues demanded urgent action and said its members would work hard to better understand infectious diseases, reduce transmission of antibiotic resistance, and help develop new antibiotics.

“The techniques of microbiology and new developments such as synthetic biology will be crucial in achieving this,” he said. (Editing by Jason Webb)

from:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/10/antibiotic-resistance-catastrophic-threat_n_2850651.html?ir=Healthy+Living

Shekina on Ascension Symptoms

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2013 Ascension Symptoms List and Predictions Year the Cosmic Mother and Rose Ray Return to Earth

Shekina Rose / Blue Ray
Tuesday, 12 March, 2013

Number sequences that appear embedded in this channel are given to Shekina Rose by spirit to activate this transmission.

You are reading this; you have made it. Congratulations truly powerful sacred light sensitive bearer. You have been tested and you are deserving of the highest Spiritual Medal of Honor. Many of you went through intense soul imitations. Your rewards are on the way as it will be a smoother path this year. You are the great teachers, the forerunners of the new Earth. You are putting an end to an era of the illusion of separation by transforming past traumas, which in turn heals the soul matrix. 333

As you came closer to the 12 12 12 gateway you had acquired enough light stabilization that you were able to clear the deepest, dark planetary and personal wounds, one being the Crucifixion. By this healing of the soul matrix you will be able to achieve a vibratory frequency that is the invisible shield of the total perfection of God.

The Rose Ray and Mother Goddess Essence Cosmic returning to earth

As you came through different rays of creation, planetary and galactic systems to come to Earth, you were encoded by them as to what would be necessary for the healing and perfection of the Divine Plan. The blue ray and ultra sensitive empath star light being carry DNA healing frequencies of the Divine Mother Goddess. By bringing this within your cellular memory you would assist in the healing of the soul matrix split of the father mother God principle, the divine counterpart to be reunited for the essence to be restored on the planet.333

2013 is the return of the Goddess to her divine counterpart for the new Earth. To bring this forward, the Rose Ray of Creation has recently been anchored back on the planet. The Rose Ray brings a supreme divine love that will enable the essence through the Mother Goddess to bridge a new empathic connection of the DNA and RNA structures with the Earth and all life. 13

Because of your endearing empathic sensitivity, a true gift to humanity, the light and love quotient had raised enough that the Rose Ray of Creation was allowed back on the planet. This is an extremely significant event for the universe where you have set the precedent for the new Earth codes. This will bring the other rays of creation and many higher frequency light beings and children from the crystal ray.

2013 Ascension Symptoms, Predictions and Beyond

You will not feel alone! Beloved blue ray and ultra sensitive light star being, we know you have not felt you had a place here on Earth. You may say, where is the connection? Where are my people? Because of your ultra super sensitivity and awareness you felt energies in people and life to be vibrating at different frequencies than your own. You are innately trying to match frequency with every encounter for that is what you do as a transformer and harmonic balancer of the unity of one.

You will meet your galactic star family; the essence and the Goddess return will reunite you!

When you were not feeling that vibrational match you continued to go back into yourself. Your energetic being and spirit were searching for the essence and many times you did not feel that. You will begin to feel the essence more throughout life for you are aligned to the Divine Mother Goddess empathic codes and it will be easier for you to feel at home here on Gaia. Because this connection is stronger on the planet, there will be a greater draw of magnetic energy for you to find and connect with your galactic star family.

New Source Codes of Abundance and Wealth

If you have not been overly successful or abundant to your liking previously, the new source code matrix Goddess of Love will make it easier for you now. The code is love and divine alignment in the name of the Goddess. There were certain gateways that were not opened to you previously as many of the systems of the planet that had been put in place were still overly influenced with the old encoded paradigms of a not balanced essence of father mother God principle. 333

Love = Wealth & Abundance

Divine alignment = Success

Goddess Empathy 13 = Sacred Opportunity heightened synchronicity

In 2013 and beyond, a grander alignment of wealth and abundance for beings of the blue ray and ultra sensitive light bearers, as you have paved the way through the purging process that now aligns you to the new core matrix upgrade of the Goddess. You were always in alignment with the truth, but there needed to be a system matrix for you to flourish, and now it has been put in place. Now there will be a greater call for you and what you have to offer as there will be a vibrational match in the matrix. You may have been met with opposition for there was still a strong hold on shadow energies not wishing to let go. Many times the shadows wanted to fight against you and actually felt threatened by your light and love.444

2013 Ascension Symptom List & Predictions

It is suggested to consult a healthcare professional for symptoms as not every symptom is from ascension. And though it may be an ascension symptom, you still may need assistance with the process.

  • *Physical heart surging energies and higher heart expansion; take note when to rest and be mindful of your caffeine intake*Changing sleep patterns: needing less sleep for periods of time with surges of energy where the body’s system will require a reboot and more than normal sleep, naps and going to bed at different times, waking up in the middle of the night, 3am to 5am

    *Greater empathy which is the new angelic human upgrade and anchoring of the Goddess. 22

  • *Mother Mary, Our lady of Fatima, sightings, visitations and interest
  • *Itching 3rd eye pineal activation and expansion into the higher realms
  • *God of Water will make its presence even more known to you
  • *Energetic light body power surges that are realigning you to the new matrix grid that will affect power centers of the world that may be shut down for certain periods. 11:11
  • *Past life multidimensional recall and embodiment. In the new time matrix your past and future lives of your ascended selves will not feel separate from who you are You will synchronize with the Christ codes of wisdom, alchemy and healing when you were the high priestess, god, goddess, and star being of other planetary systems and dimensions.
  • *Multidimensional sight and vision: you’ll be able to see and recognize past lives and different time periods on the planet and this will become part of your daily life and feel normal.
  • *New earth technologies and divine healing sound frequencies, tones, vibrations, including the ancient Solfeggio scale that will reflect the new Earth, higher realms and will open doorways to higher dimensions, create cellular rejuvenation and have positive effects on matter, the DNA and reality.
  • *Solar plexus angelic chakra star human upgrade that will be clearing and transmuting deep cellular memory and trauma and may be experienced as acid reflux, stomach issues, greater sensitivity in general to what you eat, feeling weepy and crying easily; this upgrade is aligning you to your solar soul power deity.
  • *New crystal downloads of the crystal devas will be available that activate you to higher light codes to assist in the anchoring of the new Earth. They will emit new qualities that will align you to your soul star and soul matrix and are protecting your energy fields as you become the new angelic human. Some of these crystals are ametrine, selenite and citrine.
  • *Meeting more of your soul star light family that will require you to be activated by them so you can do your projects and work in unison.
  • *Increase in déjà vu, the feeling that you are experiencing a situation that you’ve been through before at other levels of reality. This will occur more regularly as the veils will become thin and are merging. In the moment ask your higher self, why is this important that a time parallel matrix doorway be opened to me?
  • *New guides
  • *Greater planetary awakening of healing abilities and telepathy
  • *Increase in synchronicity and intuition will become a way of life
  • *Healing activation of the Crucifixion and Vow of secrecy codes of silence of the sacred Divine Feminine and Holy Grail

    *Purging and letting go of your belongings

Many of you may have already experienced this at different levels; you may have felt the need to let go of many of your belongings and/or they were taken from you or you could not take them with you to your new space. 44

All the rules will seem to shift and change as the old paradigm of energies is being transformed, transcended and reconfigured. You are becoming free and aligned to who you truly are, your Divine core essence of being. No one can know or has before experienced this on the planet as the new angelic human, the ascension of the new golden age, is unprecedented. It will be a compilation and configuration of a new Creation of encodements of many galactic, planetary dimensional systems and ancient times of Earth in which you have participated. It will be exhilarating and still at times challenging as you find your new space of being present to the holy divine unification with humanity in the Christ Heart with all life and creation.

The Blue Ray Beings are an ultra-sensitive, empathic soul group like the Indigos that came from many different ascended planets and light realms to enlighten the genetic code of humanity and raise the God consciousness on Gaia. They are the lost ray of the Light Worker.

“Shekinah”, a Hebrew word in the “Language of Light”, is a mentor of the Blue Ray. Shekinah is the lost aspect of the sacred Divine Feminine of Creation that is the embodiment of God, the ascension process. Blue Ray is the soul group consciousness of the highest aspect of all Blue Rays. Together we give you these transmissions.

Copyright © Language of Light vocal sound transmissions by Shekina Rose of www.shekinaspeaks.com – Permission is granted to copy and redistribute this article and videos on the condition that the URL www.shekinaspeaks.com is included as the resource and that it is distributed freely and on a non-commercial basis. E-mail: shekina444@yahoo.com

from:    http://spiritlibrary.com/shekina-rose-blue-ray/2013-ascension-symptoms-list-and-predictions-year-the-cosmic-mother-and-rose-r

Borrego Range, Southern California Earthquake

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Strong earthquake in the Borrego range near Anza, Southern California

Last update: March 12, 2013 at 10:23 am by By

Update 18:10 UTC :  The earthquake was on the San Jacinto Fault, the most active in Southern California, said Lucy Jones, USGS science adviser for risk reduction. Aftershocks are expected.

Screen Shot 2013-03-11 at 19.19.27

Update 18:01 UTC :  Based on theoretical calculations 393,000 people will have experienced a light shaking (MMI IV) and 6.5 million people a weak to very weak shaking. Nothing special for Southern California, but the main difference in this case is that it was felt in such a huge area.

Update 17:46 UTC :  On the picture below you have a view of the desert mountain range where the earthquake struck. Except for some wildlife nobody will be around.

Anza Borrego Desert Wilderness State Park where the epicenter is - image courtesy and copyright West Coast Sharon

Anza Borrego Desert Wilderness State Park where the epicenter is – image courtesy and copyright West Coast Sharon

Update 17:39 UTC :  Many Californians may have the same problems than we have : impossible to enter the USGS site.  The I Have Felt It Reports below will give you at least a good overview of how the people have experienced this earthquake.

Update 17:37 UTC :  Earthquake-report.com does not expect serious damage or injuries as the maximum theoretical shaking has been set to IV MMI (light shaking). This is mainly because the epicenter is in rocky mountainous area. Earthquake waves are not propagated very well in such ground.

Screen Shot 2013-03-11 at 18.57.28

Update 17:33 UTC :  The earthquake was felt from Los Angeles down to Northern Mexico (ie Mexicali). This is definitely one of the stronger earthquakes in California since the last couple of years.

Update 17:23 UTC : As you can see on our bottom map, the area had some very big earthquakes in the past.

Update 17:23 UTC : We have the impression that we are not the only ones having trouble with our servers as some USGS maps cannot be reached neither.

Update 17:20 UTC : USGS has updated his report and mentions now a M4.7 Magnitude at a depth of 12 km. 8 seconds later another one with the same Magnitude, but this may be changed again later on.

We have a hard time to write as we have too many readers in the site at the moment. Our apologies for this.
A lot of aftershocks are currently reported.
Luckily the epicenter is in a wilderness area but the valley to the east is of big concern.

Screen Shot 2013-03-11 at 18.08.14

 

19km (12mi) ESE of Anza, California
23km (14mi) SW of La Quinta, California
25km (16mi) SSW of Palm Desert, California
26km (16mi) SSW of Rancho Mirage, California
409km (254mi) W of Phoenix, Arizona

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 4.7

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-03-11 09:55:50

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-03-11 16:55:50

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 12.1 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/03/11/moderate-earthquake-southern-california-on-march-11-2013/

Neale Donald Walsch on Holy Experience

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10 Tools Creating The Holy Experience

Neale Donald Walsch
a message from Neale Donald Walsch
Saturday, 22 September, 2012  (posted 8 March, 2013)

My dear friends…

As you know if you are a regular reader of The Weekly Bulletin, we have been exploring now for many months an encounter with Life that I have called The Holy Experience. Through the years many people have written to me asking about how they might have such an experience.

This week I want to share with you that I seem to have stumbled upon Ten Instruments or tools with which one might build a platform, or an environment, for the Holy Experience. That’s the best way I can answer the question, “How can I have the Holy Experience?” I’ve thought about this a lot, looking at my own journey and the journey of others with whom I am acquainted, and here is what I have come up with:

The Ten Instruments Of The Holy Experience

1. Yearning

2. Willing

3. Exploring

4. Embracing

5. Explaining

6. Resonance

7. Visualization

8. Movement

9. Ritual

10. Service & Discipline

These instruments seem to me to be divided into two types: Physical Tools (1-5 above) and Spiritual Tools (6-10 above). I have called these The Five Tools of Awareness and The Five Tools of Non-Awareness of the world.

I believe that the combination of Complete Awareness-plus-Complete Non-Awareness equals Realization.

It seems to me that when one is Aware and Non-Aware at the same time (that is, when one is Physical and Spiritual simultaneously), one is Fully Realized. This is what I would call the Holy Experience.

Do not worry if you do not understand this. All of this will be explained here. For now, be willing to notice that you are “aware” that you are “not aware” of exactly what this means.

I have discovered that the Ten Instruments above may be taken sequentially or in any order that one chooses. And…the use of these Instruments may also be skipped altogether. The Holy Experience may be had without any of the tools being utilized.

The Instruments are just that. Merely tools. One can travel the terrain of enlightenment without using them, and many people have.

On the other hand, using the tools should in no way indicate a lack of spiritual clarity or power. There are many paths to awakening, and using the Ten Instruments is simply one that I have discovered through my lifelong search for a Way to Higher Consciousness, or Self-Realization. It is neither a superior path, nor an inferior one.

On the path described here, the Physical Tools (steps 1-5) can be used to build an experience or an Awareness of your individual life and all that is around you in the exterior world, while the Spiritual Tools produce the knowing of larger realities, resulting in Non-Awareness of—or detachment from—what is around you in the world. It’s almost as if, for you, the world around you is in many ways simply “not there.”

Used together, these Ten Instruments can produce a combined state that I would call Awareness/Non-Awareness. This is sometimes termed “higher consciousness” or “full self-realization.” You will remember that there is a statement in the Bible about being “in the world, but not of it.” This is what the statement means. It is when you realize Who You Really Are, and who you are choosing to experience your Self as during this particular incarnation.

All of the Ten Instruments of the Holy Experience build a path to this destination: the Ultimate Expression of Who You Really Are, demonstrated through the individualized identity you are living right now. This is the moving through you of you as you.

I really want to get into this deeply, and we will as we continue on our exploration of The Holy Experience in this space next week.

Hugs and love,

Neale

© 2012 ReCreation Foundation – http://www.cwg.org – Neale Donald Walsch is a modern day spiritual messenger whose words continue to touch the world in profound ways. His With God series of books has been translated into 27 languages, touching millions of lives and inspiring important changes in their day-to-day lives.

from:    http://spiritlibrary.com/neale-donald-walsch/10-tools-creating-the-holy-experience