Energy Reader's Musings

Vegan "Palak (Spinach) Tofu"

2012-01-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

*Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients

Spinach – 4-6 ounces fresh, cleaned, or frozen
Onions – 1-1/4 medium sized
Garlic – 1 clove
Cooking oil (or ghee for the dairy version) – 3-4 Tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Tofu – 250 - 350 gm (or Paneer if you prefer dairy)
About 1 tsp each or to taste:
Garam Masala
Geera Powder
Chilli Powder
Salt to taste
Cilantro leaves - 1/4 cup (or more to taste) chopped

Preparation

Cook the spinach in boiling water for 2 minutes
Drain the water immediately, rinse well with cold water (this ensures they remain a vibrant green color)
In a blender or food processor, puree the cooked spinach leaves
Cut the tofu (or paneer) in cubes of desired size. If using paneer, it's recommended lightly frying them in oil
Chop one onion finely
Saute the onion and tofu till the onion is transparent
Add spices and saute briefly
Puree the remaining 1/4 onion and garlic clove
Add the spinach and onion/garlic purees to the sauteed onions
Add some water if necessary, to desired consistency
Simmer for two minutes
Chop cilantro and garnish on top before serving
Serve hot with rice, quinoa or rotis

As an alternative to grains, steam cauliflower, crumble, use in place of grains. You can also substitute part or all of the spinach with mustard leaves

Sleeping Pills Effects and Alternatives

2012-01-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

"Benzodiazepines and Sleeping Pills significantly inhibit the transport of calcium into the nerve cells in the brain, heart and throughout the body. The alteration of the calcium balance is what contributes to anxiety, fear, panic and muscle cramping, since Calcium modulates the effects on the GABA receptors. The GABA receptors are excited by Calcium supplements and even low dosage Calcium vitamins (not naturally occurring calcium in food items) can over-stimulate the brain neurons and increase anxiety, insomnia and fear." --from Point of Return, Experts in Prescription Drug Withdrawal

One of my clients was trying to live a healthy lifestyle and even taking calcium supplements to promote natural relaxation. At the same time, they were taking sleep medication. In a reading, it was discovered that not only was the calcium supplementation making their insomnia worse, but was contributing to thyroid problems. The doctor that prescribed the medication did not inform the patient to refrain from taking calcium supplements. The above quote illustrates the mad cycle that sleeping pills engender.

It is important to note that if you have a history of long-term and regular use of sleeping pills, you will need help discontinuing them and alternative means of getting rest. It would be unwise to attempt to do this on your own.

A recent study at Harvard Medical School found that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), including relaxation exercises and the adoption of good sleep habits, was more effective at treating chronic insomnia than prescription sleep medication. It produced the greatest changes in patients’ ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, and the benefits remained even a year after treatment ended.

Relaxation and other techniques as an alternative to sleeping pills
Relaxation techniques that can relieve stress and help you sleep include simple meditation practices, progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, tai chi, or the use of deep breathing. With some practice, these skills can help you unwind at bedtime and improve your sleep better than a sleeping pill or sleep aid.

Often, when we feel wound up, stressed or tense, the last thing we want to do is attempt to settle down with relaxation techniques. But remember, we're attempting to break cycles that cause our tension to begin with. When attempting to meditate or relax, don't try to stop thoughts or thinking. Instead, allow them to be what they are but try to let them fall away, watching them dispassionately. You may never enter a state of a quiet mind. That's ok. It can take many weeks to get used to allowing and releasing thoughts that come up. Just let them be and don't condemn yourself for having them, which only adds to an increasing cycle of anxiety.

Dietary factors in relaxation also play a huge role, in addition to exercise, meditation and deep breathing. Try:

A relaxing bedtime routine. Focus on quiet, soothing activities, such as reading, gentle yoga, or listening to soft music before bed. Keep the lights low to naturally boost melatonin.
Abdominal breathing. Most of us don’t breathe as deeply as we should. When we breathe deeply and fully, involving not only the chest, but also the belly, lower back, and ribcage, it can actually help the part of our nervous system that controls relaxation. Close your eyes and try taking deep, slow breaths, making each breath even deeper than the last. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Make each exhale a little longer than each inhale.
Progressive muscle relaxation is easier than it sounds. Lie down or make yourself comfortable. Starting with your feet, tense the muscles as tightly as you can. Hold for a count of 10, then relax. Continue to do this for every muscle group in your body, working your way up from your feet to the top of your head.
Exercise as an alternative to sleeping pillsStudies have shown that exercise during the day can improve sleep at night. When we exercise we experience a significant rise in body temperature, followed a few hours later by a significant drop. This drop in body temperature makes it easier for us to fall asleep and stay asleep. The best time to exercise is late afternoon or early evening, rather than just before bed.Aerobic exercises are the best to combat insomnia as they increase the amount of oxygen that reaches the blood. Try exercise such as jogging, walking briskly, using a stationary bike or treadmill, dancing, or jumping rope. Check with your doctor first to make sure you are healthy enough for physical activity and remember to stretch before and after your workouts.
Healthy Diet. Let's face it, you've heard it enough: prepared foods simply contain too much sugar, fat and salt. A diet rich with a rainbow of colored vegetables dominating the diet will turn the body alkaline and enable you to absorb calcium. Toxins in cells don't allow nutritive factors to enter. Medicine of any kind, proteins, dairy, sugar, refined carbohydrate foods, alcohol and caffeine make the body very acidic and prone to disease and continued decline in health.

How much exercise will improve sleep?

One study by Stanford University of Medicine researchers concluded that people who performed regular, moderately-intense aerobic exercise for 30 to 40 minutes four times a week, slept almost an hour longer than those who did no exercise at all. As well as enjoying better quality sleep, the exercisers were also able to cut the time it took to fall asleep by half.

All the nutritional supplements in the world cannot make up for an unhealthy diet and unhealthy lifestyles: daily stimulation (music, television, activity), sleep cycles, drugs, alcohol and caffeine intake must be taken into account. You'll effectively be tossing money down the drain if you refuse to change your lifestyle. Unless cells can be detoxified, it is an uphill battle to get nutrition into the cells.

It's often difficult to attempt to change lifestyle without the guidance of an expert dietitian or naturopath. The choice is always in your own hands. You have the knowledge and the power. It's simply a matter of taking that step, a commitment towards your own well-being.

Source of part of the relaxation section: Helpguide.org, Sleeping Pills, Natural Sleep Aids and Medications -What’s Best for You?
Source of Cognitive Behavior Therapy: National Institute of Health (NIH)
Source of How much exercise will improve sleep?: National Institute of Health (NIH)

Aromatherapy (Essential Oils) for Sinus Infections, Respiratory Viruses

2012-01-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

Rosemary Seeds

Supplies needed:

3 or more quart cooking pot
2 or more quarts filtered or distilled water (should not have chlorine or fluoride in it, you will be inhaling this)
Essential Oils (be sure they are pure, high grade and organic if possible):

Peppermint
Eucalyptus
Tea Tree
Rosemary
Lavender

Neti Pot (optional--preferred but not required--ceramic or glass preferred)
Steam distilled water, 1 cup (to assure there are no chemicals, bacteria or viruses that are often in tap water)
Pure sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon or 1/2 teaspoon if you don't want to use baking soda also (no additives of any kind, such as iodide--be sure to check the label)
Baking soda 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Instructions:

Add filtered or distilled water to your 3 quart or larger cooking pot.. Bring to a boil. While waiting for this to come to a boil, do the next step (not required but recommended). Otherwise skip the neti pot step and go to the next.

Get a neti pot. Heat some distilled water (only enough to fill your neti pot, which should be 1 measure cup full) so that it's very comfortable to the touch and will not burn your delicate sinus passages. Add 1/4 teaspoon each: pure sea salt and baking soda. You can skip the soda and add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt if you prefer. You need this to make the water saline to avoid burning the sinuses. If you've added the correct amount, it should not hurt or burn at all. Use the whole neti pot of saline water. Blow your nose of all mucus and water. You can also do this in the shower if you prefer. While standing, bend over and hang your head down for a minute or so. Stand up and blow your nose again, bringing out as much mucus as you can.

Now that you've cleared as much mucus as possible, check your boiling pot of water. After it comes to a hard boil, take it off the heat. Add the essential oils listed above, a few drops of each one. Depending on the amount of water you use, you may have to use a few more or less drops. It should be enough to give you an effect, or that you can feel its effects in your eyes and sinuses. Put your head over the steaming pot and drape a towel over your head to keep the steam coming into your face, sinuses and eyes. Do this as long as there is steam.

Once you're finished, you can prepare an essential oil blend to rub into your lymph glands, temples, sinus and/or chest areas. You can take about 2 ounces of a carrier oil (jojoba or castor are my favorites, but you can use other oils that nourish the skin, such as sea buckthorn (the nutrients in this are very nourishing to both skin and sinuses) or coconut oil, cocoa or shea butter and about 5 drops of each of the essential oils listed above. You can rub this oil into those areas at least a couple times a day or more. You can apply gentle heat with a heated eye pillow (filled with rice or seeds), hot wash cloth, hot water bottle or heating pad but this is not required.

Lymph Glands of the Head and Neck

As an alternative, you can take 2 ounces of distilled water in a dark glass (brown or blue) spray bottle and add the essential oils listed above (any or all). Spray this on your sinus area with your eyes tightly closed, then rub into your skin until it's dry or nearly dry. Spraying this on the lymph glands under your ears, jaw or neck can help clear toxins and absorb it better as well. Take a look at the illustration above to locate ideal areas to rub gently into lymph gland areas.

It is not recommended that you add essential oils directly to the neti pot water, only in the ways listed here. Even though essential oils are safe to use, they may cause irritation to mucus membranes if applied directly.

Eucalyptus and rosemary clear congestion while tea tree and peppermint oil provide antiseptic properties for infection. Not every oil listed is required, so if you happen to only have a couple of them on hand, they will still help more than if you do nothing. If you want to know all attributes of these oils, it's simple to Google them. Note: The photograph of essential oils is not from an essential oil manufacturer that I've used--it was a free photo on Wikimedia Commons.

Aromatherapy for Menopause

2012-01-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

Today I was mixing some aromatherapy formulas for bodywash and sprays to clear my massage space. In looking for additional recipes rather than using my intuition, I discovered the oils I'd just chosen and mixed were the identical ones used for a great menopause formula. My intuition was in synch!

Menopause Aromatherapy Mist

2 ounces (60 mL) distilled water
24 drops peppermint oil
12 drops of each oil:
-clary sage oil
-geranium oil
-lemon oil

Get yourself some empty blue or brown glass spray bottles at a massage supply store (Zenith in Seattle is one) or other shop that sells aromatherapy oils. The colored glass keeps the oils from losing their effectiveness since sunlight degrades oils. You'll also need distilled water (to keep the spray from molding). You can always double the recipe by having a larger 4 ounce bottle.

Shake the bottle well. Mist onto your body (particularly wrists or abdomen) when you feel symptoms beginning; hot flashes, mood swings, restlessness, irritability, etc. You can also mist the air and breathe.

Kale Chips with the Works

2011-12-18T16:33:00.000-08:00

I'm posting this recipe and photo from Cats in the Kitchen blog - I didn't post it directly because the person spends too much time on their information about their pets, when I really only enjoy some of the recipes.

Kale is one of the most nutritious vegetables, so I've been researching some recipes to incorporate it more frequently into our diet.

Kale Chips with the Works

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale, washed and dried
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 unpeeled carrot
1 T. raw tahini
2 T. Bragg's amino acids
2-4 T. lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Spray a large cookie sheet.
Remove the washed and dried kale from the stems. Break the leaves into small pieces. Place half the kale pieces in a large bowl and set aside.
Prepare the coating by blending the red bell pepper, carrot, tahini, Bragg's, lemon juice in a food processor. (Note: This makes enough for another batch of kale chips the next day.)
Spoon several large tablespoonsfull of the coating over the kale in the bowl. Toss to distribute the mixture and coat the leaves.
Spread the coated kale on the cookie sheet.
Place in the oven and bake until dry but pliable.
Once the first batch is done, repeat with the remaining kale leaves.

Your Father and Mother are Inside

2011-12-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

I attended a summer retreat in Vancouver, in which I volunteered at the bookstore, for Thich Nhat Hahn. I wrote about it here: Walking with Thay I was at the talk he gave, which was for children (they were present), but it spoke to every person. It's only a 26 minute clip, so well worth the listen. It's called "Your Father and Mother are Inside". I am not a devotee of his, nor a Buddhist. But I love his talks, and the fact that as a south Vietnamese, he opposed the Vietnam war and was exiled because of his stance. He's gone all over the world teaching peace since that time. Video here:

Your Father and Mother are Inside

The "soil" we plant those seeds, and the quality of the seed, are its beginnings and will foretell all the plant will have to live, either healthy or unhealthy. We all come from impure seeds, and must outgrow the impurities. This is an enormously difficult task and would be much easier if we came to purity before having children. We reap what we sow, but we also must outgrow outward circumstances. It takes one person to end cycles of lifetimes, centuries, of inattentive planting and sowing. But there is also gratitude for existing, to be enabled to grow past this world. Right after the talk, we all took a walking meditation together (which is the article I wrote about above). I knew then, and know now, that my birth parents walk with me whether they are there or not. What I do is for future generations and incarnations of our family.

War Affects Everyone's Health

2011-12-11T14:09:00.001-08:00

"The Shelled House"

Many times when doing a reading, it's discovered how war time has effected the person's outlook and well-being. One might think that because they have never been in the military and had no direct family members in the military that war wouldn't affect them. But there has virtually been no person upon the planet that hasn't been affected by war, either directly or indirectly. We are also descendents of warriors and war survivors. Think about that. We carry those memories in our genes and act on them as if they are our own memory.

Results of war are loss of loved ones, hunger, lost shelter by homes destroyed, immigration, refugees, war veterans sustaining injuries and emotional scars, and an endless array of images that come to mind. Families are often impoverished for long periods of time. Think about your own family history. Have stories been handed down about what family members endured? Those are alive in your family system.

In a recent reading, the person experienced feelings of "paralysis"--not depressed--from doing daily activities. They had difficulty thinking about the future and only could cope with each day as it came. A previous family member, from generations past, had almost frozen and starved to death as a result of war. They hadn't even been in the military but their country, at war, experienced these conditions. They could not think beyond surviving day to day. Any thinking beyond that would cause feelings of overwhelm, because they might die from starvation and/or hypothermia the next day.

Our emotions are almost entirely the very beginning of any disease in the body. So in this case, a refusal to look into the future, not wanting to face it because of the uncertainty of survival, caused spinal problems; they unable to turn their neck freely, and other parts of their spine properly. They were drawn to foods that supported "paralysis," causing calcium deposits in the joints instead of foods that feed the joints--alkaline foods such as fresh vegetables.

Some energetic work was done to break the ties of the memories that did not belong to them. They, like all of us, were living memories they had no recollection. This is why we can experience depression for no known reason and send us to psychotherapists to fix us when the issue was really in the past.

Surviving war might sound negative, but one good outcome is that war forces one to live completely in the moment. And perhaps this is what draws humans to enter war. All outward struggle and pain is inconsequential in reality; it's to achieve those moments of living in the present moment.

Many Vietnam veterans experience these fits of "paralysis," accompanied by depression over what they witnessed. Some days they can barely make it out of the house.

War also affects our environment in a "peaceful" country. The US manufactures more weapons and military apparatus than any other country in the world. This pollutes our environment. In fact, perchlorate is a fuel that when spilled on the ground, as it often is, gets into the ground drinking water. Consuming this water causes hypothyroidism, among other health problems. California has issued warnings about drinking water, and tried to pass legislation to make every Californian consume extra iodine. But the thyroid still would not absorb it because of the toxins from the military fuel blocking it, mimicking adequate levels of hormone production.

Many Americans are facing a growing epidemic of obesity, due to things like thyroid issues. We are poisoned by supporting war, even when not directly supporting it. There are many other factors involved in obesity, but most is directly related to governmental decisions for the health and well-being of the country--especially how we grow crops and raise animals.

In any case, once a cause is discovered for why we do what we do, feelings of guilt can be alleviated. Once we are freed from guilt, we're more likely to feel better and move on past our typical routines. In bringing these couple of examples of health issues, it's my hope it will help one examine their own background and release what's holding one back in life.

A Respite from Bodywork but Increase in Readings

2011-12-07T18:46:00.001-08:00

Those of you who get my newsletters or Facebook feed know my car was stolen on November 8. It was interesting from one aspect, that I never fell into a panic or drama. It was like watching a scene but not being a part of it. Every day since then, in my daily prayer vigil, I've prayed for the thief in addition to my regular list. It's occurred to me, several things that have forced me to stop doing bodywork in the Seattle area--at least temporarily, if not permanently.

The first thing was when my USB music player quit working. I cursed that it is nearly impossible to find another because iPod rules that industry. So I bought an inexpensive MP3 player for $40, and a small set of speakers with a universal plug that fit in the player.

The next thing, I found the massage room I'd been using intolerable to work. The cleanliness was the main issue, along with the "vibes" of another person that sublet the room. She aggressively let me know she didn't appreciate my presence there (we never met in person). And finally, it was difficult to get the room on a consistent basis.

So it was on to search another space I could use dependably. Willing to pay more than twice what I had been paying, I signed a lease for a very clean and uncluttered space. She ended her own lease prematurely (it wasn't up until June 2012), rented a new space and offered to let me keep my same schedule at the new space. The new space was quite lovely but way too small. In addition, another therapist that had been under probation for forging their massage license was renting in the room that shared the same wall. There were those "vibes" again.

I started a search for a new space, and at every turn, came up empty handed.

In the meantime, the room I'd been sleeping at my daughter's was now occupied by her two sons. My other son and girlfriend were my other option, and I stayed in their spare room. But then a troubled teen came to stay with them, so that left me out of another space to stay.

I still thought, well, maybe I can find somewhere to stay, and stayed with one of my friends. She offered to let me use a spare room to do bodywork, but it's never felt the right thing to use someone else's space in that way.

But the final blow came when my car was stolen. I hadn't even unloaded all my massage supplies from when I'd last worked in Seattle. So those went with the car. The new stereo speakers I'd bought to play music once again were among those items.

To sum up:

Broken music player
Lost first massage room
Lost first sleeping room
Lost second massage room
Lost second sleeping room
Car stolen
All main massage supplies stolen
New music speakers stolen

Wouldn't you agree that life was telling me something? I shake my head and laugh.

We can always look back easily and see there were indications that I needed to pull back, reassess what I was doing, and the writing was on the wall. How many times do we actually take stock like this before a series of related events happen? It's caused me to slow down and take a look at what's taking place right now, in this very moment.

It was a big stretch for me to come down to Seattle regularly. The massage spaces never felt like "mine," or my energy. I needed to behave almost as if I wasn't there. Even though I stayed in my own kids' homes, I didn't have my own comforts of home. My car was 12 years old and those trips were bound to eventually result in a break down or bad driving conditions, especially in the colder seasons.

My priorities have changed. I'm taking more time daily to meditate and take care of myself. Every day has felt like living in a state of grace. I feel so blessed to be alive at this moment in time, at this period of history.

An interesting thing began to develop at the same time the massage practice was becoming impossible to continue. My intuitive reading schedule picked up sharply. I'm finding myself doing several readings a week now. I plan to share some highlights of readings, keeping names completely anonymous.

I'm still available for bodywork sessions, but only in Vancouver (fortunately I still have my massage table). I'm always available for telephone or in-person readings. I'm developing a website that focuses on the intuitive readings, as well as how I've developed my abilities in this lifetime. Stay tuned!

Apples Keep Doctor Away or Here to Stay?

2011-12-07T12:07:00.001-08:00

When I do intuitive readings, oftentimes clients will bring supplements for me to hold (and I refuse to look at the label to see what it is) and give my impressions of the product: 1. What does it do in the body? 2. Is it Vital or processed? 2. Is it pure? 3. Is it effective? 4. Is it useful for their own body? Some of those impressions have been quite useful to my clients (and me!) because unfortunately, you also can't always know if a nutritional supplement is truly nutritional.

So, there I was, holding a beautiful red and yellow apple in my hand. In an instant, it felt pretty toxic. Is there anything one can consume, any whole food, that isn't contaminated? I knew the wax coating was the main issue, and carefully cleaned it before eating it. But it really got me to thinking about the next apples we buy, to avoid that whole toxic issue.

Apples have been touted as one of the healthiest among foods, "keeping the doctor away," but that would probably mean only if it's a local, organic apple you get directly from the farmer.

Apples produce their own natural wax barrier. But when raised commercially, this is cleaned off completely, and replaced by any number of waxes approved by the FDA in order to extend shelf life, sometimes a year or more. One would think it's safe and edible if the FDA would approve it for consumption. Think again.

The processing of the waxes can also be a problem (they use chemicals to produce the wax). Some people say that the FDA believes these waxes are safe because human digestion cannot break them down and they pass out of the body. But that is simply untrue. It is so pervasive in the human diet that the FDA says this about it:

"The per capita adult daily intake has been estimated to be about 1.2mg. Despite its use in food since 1900, an extensive search of the literature has revealed no information on its absorption, metabolism or excretion by animals, acute or chronic toxicity, or its teratogenic or carcinogenic properties. In view of the almost complete lack of biological studies, the Select Committee has insufficient data upon which to evaluate the safety of carnauba wax as a miscellaneous or general purpose food additive." from Carnauba Wax, Database of Select Committee on GRAS Substances (SCOGS) Reviews.

So, even though Carnauba Wax is FDA approved, the FDA has no idea about the safety of consuming it. That's not too comforting.

Apples, even organic apples purchased at popular "health food" grocers, may contain added waxes. The three most used waxes on apples are shellac (derived from insects in India), carnauba wax (derived from an ultra refining process from the carnauba palm tree in Brazil), and sythetically derived waxes from petroleum.

All of these waxes are used industrially, protecting wood flooring or coating surfaces to prevent moisture and decay. Carnauba is used in fingernail polish, a host of cosmetics (such as waterproof mascara), waxing automobiles or surf boards, and other topical uses. But it's also used to give candy a shine, coat vitamins and medicine tablets for ease of swallowing. It's also the source of vegetarian gelatin.

Petroleum products are pervasive in our environment. When consumed (and even inhaled), they are scientifically proven to act as an endocrine disruptor, causing thyroid and other serious problems. Yet some waxes are derived from petroleum and allowed by the FDA for human consumption. Read The True Cost of Petroleum for more information.

The more research I've done about apples, the more I get too many varying opinions. Many claim these waxes are safe (predominantly apple growers themselves say this), while others claim they are toxic.

Cleaning, Peeling or Buying Uncoated Apples

Along the same lines of varying opinions, you will hear that you either can't clean the apple properly, that you shouldn't use any type of cleaner, to solving the problem by peeling the apple. So what is one to do? You have to decide what you're comfortable doing, not just what the FDA says is safe.

Uncoated Apples: First option is always to buy apples that are fresh, local and (preferably) organic, directly from the farmer. This could be at a farm market, at their farm or from a trusted source. This ensures it's a current year's crop, not apples preserved by waxes that can be a year old. It also ensures you're able to get the full extent of the nutrients that are just under the skin.

Cleaning Apples: We may not have the option to buy fresh and local. There are natural fruit and vegetable washes, that also claim they're edible. Some folks are of the opinion that the skins of apples are "porous" and will absorb anything you put on the skin. Others believe these natural washes are safe and won't absorb--and even if they do, they're "safe" to eat. Other folks will tell you that it's impossible to wash off the wax (it is designed to repel water and seal), so just peel the fruit instead. But it is possible to feel and see the difference when carefully cleaning an apple. Instead of buying a product for cleaning, you can make up your own simple mix to clean fruit. Here are a couple of ideas.

Carefully rinse and scrub the apple in plain water to take off any initial debris. Mix 1 tsp. lemon juice in 1 tbsp. lukewarm water. Add a touch of baking soda. Use a vegetable brush, dipping it in the solution. Scrub, then rinse again in fresh water. Save the solution for other apples.
Try using plain ol' vinegar (white or apple cider) with a scrub brush, after washing the apple in water first. Rinse in fresh water after scrubbing.

Peeling Apples: If you aren't sure if you trust the apple is clean, simply peel it. Try doing so gently, to avoid completely stripping the pectin layer where most of the nutrients are found.

Other things to consider

Apple Environment

In reading the FDA website, I came across reports of contaminated food, making folks sick from a number of different bacteria, such as E-Coli. For apples, the bacterial problems seem to stem from folks who

Don't wash their fruit properly (wash your fruit thoroughly!)
Eating fruit that's been on the ground too long instead of picking directly from the tree or shortly after falling (and not cleaning properly)
Watering or fertilizing trees with un-sanitized animal feces (though it seems unclear what the FDA considers "sanitized" feces! It is likely a ploy to standardize using chemical fertilizers from corporations like Monsanto.)

Important questions:

Do you know the orchard your apple came from? Local ensures the freshest and most vital nutrients available
How was it raised and treated? i.e. chemical or organic, local farmer or a vague (even popular) corporation
What variety is the apple? Is it a hybrid or heirloom variety? Trace the roots of the apple variety to find out how nutritious it really is. Many of the mass produced varieties yield far less nutrition and far more natural sugars and volume.

Apples, an Ancient Food

Apples are known by most Western cultures since the beginning of humankind by their Biblical tale. Apples have been cultivated for thousands of years and over 7500 different species exist, both cultivated and wild. It's perplexing how there are usually only a tiny handful of varieties available at most markets. These tend to be varieties that are the most shelf-stable and predictable in size.

In ancient Greece, around 400 BC, Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, prescribed apple cider vinegar mixed with honey for a variety of ills, including coughs and colds.There are a variety of claims made about what apples can do for one's health.

Continue enjoying that "apple a day," but these days, take caution in the apple (and other foods) you consume! Apples aren't the only fruit or vegetable coated with waxes. Paying attention, or not, to the foods we consume will either keep us away from, or put us into, a doctor's office. You can protect yourself by taking the time to investigate what you're eating.

Commemoration of September 11

2011-09-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

This morning, it was intimated to me to read letters that Tara Singh had written me, something I had not done in years. This was the first letter I saw:

In a letter dated September 11, 2001, Tara Singh wrote,

"There was an earthquake here in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 9.

"Early this morning I was awakened by a stillness that transcends thought. I sat quiet in my bed for some time and then I was led to the Prayer Room. And there I sensed that there was some reason for this unprecedented call.

"Only later did I hear of the attacks in New York, Washington, DC, and elsewhere.

"Together these events warn us to be children of God and live by love.

"We need to discover that, in fact, the peace of God surrounds each one of us. We are not separated from one another in love and truth. Let us be grateful.

"Gratefulness is a state that knows,

"Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists." ACIM Introduction

Here is a video I created in Tara Singh's honor, but to prepare us for the times we now live.

Changing the Destiny of Stars

"You who want peace can find it only by complete forgiveness." - ACIM

"And make space in yourself to hear

"Perfect love casts out fear.
If fear exists,
Then there is not perfect love.

But,

Only perfect love exists,
If there is fear,
It produces a state that does not exist.

Believe this, and you will be free.
Only God can establish this solution, and this faith is His gift." - ACIM T-Ch1, Sec VI

Video I produced on this part of the text from A Course in Miracles:

In another letter, Tara Singh pointed out some statements made many years before the 9/11 atrocities.

"America is becoming a country for the selfish and the greedy. We are forgetting the middle American who built this country upon certain principles and ideals. If we continue, one day Americans will wake up to find that America has been destroyed." - Tip O-Neill, June 1981

"In Biblical times a famed Pharaoh once dreamed of seven fat years of plenty followed by seven lean years of want. With the US economy in the seventh year of a record peace time expansion, signs are multiplying that for many Americans the fat times are coming to an end.... At the moment, no Joseph is available to persuade Washington to adopt frugal habits, even when the fat years are in danger of turning to lean ones." - Time Magazine, May 22, 1989

May we each be surrounded by the love of God, and not allow fear to take root during these difficult times. The strength is within each one of us to rise above the external state.

Blessings and love

Coconut-Almond-Cashew Crusted Fish

2011-08-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Coconut-Almond-Cashew Crusted Fish

1 clove crushed garlic
1/8 onion (sweet onions - vidalia or Walla Walla are great)
1/4 cup each: tapioca flour, almond flour, cashew flour, coconut bits
1 tsp (or so) salt
1.5 lb white fish of your choice (pictured here is Tilapia)

Chop the onion and garlic. Heat an equal mixture of olive and coconut oil, enough to generously coat the bottom of your pan. Add a touch of lemon juice to the oil. Sautee onion and garlic. Toss all dry ingredients together (mix well). Clean your fish, dry it. Coat fish generously in the mixture. Move the onions and garlic aside. Lightly fry the fish (in a frying pan on the stove) until very light golden brown on each side. Enjoy!

Note: Don't go to the unnecessary expense of buying already ground nut flours. Grind your own in a food processor, Magic Bullet, or other appliance. Make sure you have raw nuts. Roasted and salted aren't as nutritious and also not suitable for this recipe.

Coconut Lemon Ginger Salad Dressing

2011-08-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Coconut Lemon Ginger Salad Dressing

1 lg. clove garlic
1/8 onion
2-3 Tbsp coconut bits (to taste)
Ginger, fresh, the size of the tip of your thumb (or so, to taste)
1/3-1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
Salt to taste

Toss the garlic, ginger and onion in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.

Garlic Green Beans

2011-08-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

I made some delicious green beans for dinner and found this cool picture to accompany my recipe.

1-2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tbsp chopped onion (sweet vidalias for example)
2 tsp rosemary (whole dried leaves, not powder - more rosemary if it's fresh from the plant)
1 tbsp (approx) lemon juice
1 tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
Salt to taste
Dash of cayenne pepper

Sautee garlic, onions and rosemary in olive oil until translucent. Toss in the green beans, coat with the mixture. Toss in the rest of the ingredients. Cover and simmer until just tender.

Quote of the day

2011-08-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

All thinking produces form at some level - ACIM

Earth Clinic Folk Remedies

2011-08-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

Earth Clinic Folk Remedies is such a great website, I had to share. I was impressed by the Iodine for Skin Tags post, and it made me aware it's a great resource for a variety of issues someone might have. Check it out!

Walking With Alfred Hassler, Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chan Khong

2011-08-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

"A feature documentary film and 3D animated comic book about normal people who became Nonviolent Super Heroes"

This is a fundraising project to produce this film. Projects like this are important. I'm a bit put off by the comic book hero aspect, but it's surely better than fictional comic books - and it's not really in comic book form for the most part. This is an interesting series. Check out the video. This kind of movement of non-violence is what the world needs.

Nutritious, raw, grain-free noodles

2011-08-13T21:24:00.000-07:00

Kelp Noodles are a sea vegetable in the form of an easy to eat raw noodle. Made of only kelp (a sea vegetable), sodium alginate (sodium salt extracted from a brown seaweed), and water, Kelp Noodles are fat-free, gluten-free, and very low in carbohydrates and calories.

These kelp noodles, once heated in soups, are similar to glass noodles, in texture and taste. I know, you're thinking like I did - they sound gross. But they're very neutral in flavor, nutritious, low in carbs (1g in 4 oz) and calories (6 calories in 4 oz!). They're raw too, which means you can include them in a raw food diet. Use them in salads (they don't require cooking - just rinse and eat).

I found a great and inexpensive way to order at iHerb.com. The company that produces them is in the US.

My quote of the day

2011-08-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

The Buddha was not a Buddhist, Jesus was not a Christian, Muhammad was not a Moslem, and Abraham was not a Jew. They were independent of organized religion and stepped outside the confines of religion.

Cats in the Kitchen: Cold avocado-spinach soup

2011-08-13T11:44:00.000-07:00

Cats in the Kitchen: Cold avocado-spinach soup: "Bailey's version of Where's Waldo?

Cold avocado-spinach soup
Can you find camocat, A.K.A. Bailey, in the photo above? He like..."

A delicious raw food meal!

Walking with Thay

2011-08-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

The first time we gathered for a walking meditation with Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), I didn't know what to expect, so decided to simply "be with it." He sat on the grassy ground under the cool shade of trees. Children surrounded him, then adults. There were others of us standing around that circle.

Viewing the crowd, it seemed there were looks of anticipation or desire for recognition. At first there was a feeling of agitation by the neediness of others. But instantly that changed. Those looks were transformed into hopeful gazes, the longing, the wishing for a connection. It really impacted me; we are so alone on this planet. We miss our home, our separation from our Source. We think another person is the answer, the way to feel that connection to Source.

Compassion enveloped me and I wept for everyone. All of us lonely and adrift on this planet, separated from ourselves and each other. There, only feelings of love and compassion overcame me.

Noticing we were a few hundred, that was swallowed up by the size of the university campus. The campus was swallowed up by the size of the city. Beyond that, was the size of the province, the continent, and next the size of the world. Gazing from space, we were nothing but a speck, visually undetectable by anyone.

Only a few hundred amongst billions on the planet who had decided to be in that place, in that time. And I thought, why isn't everyone coming to their Source? Why isn't everyone drawn to that sanity, that peace? The pure stillness and peace was all we needed to reconnect to our Source.

I considered, this is the reason the world has gone insane. Everyone going about their daily lives, seeking a means of happiness through things, events, people, causes, and all the rest. Those things were longings in the dark, seeking and not finding. No wonder everyone is frustrated and blaming others for their lack of happiness.

After a chant of wooden flute enveloping that space, Thay arose and began to walk. All of us followed with, around and behind him. It was a curious thing to witness wandering of the mind, drawn to this scene or that person, then brought back within to be at peace with the moment. It was like breath: Inhale, noticing. Exhale, releasing to the moment.

When we arrived at our final destination, I was transfixed in that time and space. I didn't want to move. It was good enough to just be. That peace was impenetrable and lasting. I've carried it in my heart ever since.

I recognized we are home. We never really left. We only thought we did.

Are we thinking or not?

2011-07-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Today I was reflecting on the idea of why we do what we do. For example, it's hard not to notice that most Europeans I know close their toilet lids and bathroom doors. It may be an incorrect assumption, but it seems to stem from a time when outhouses were in use - necessities of that period of time. Somewhere along the way, people didn't question why they were mimicking a certain behavior.

In reading another person's blog, they asked for ideas on healthy breakfasts that were limited to only three items. A plethora of posts revealed the basic ingredients remained fairly consistent: oats, organic eggs, milk, baked goods, and so on. And I wondered, but what would someone in China say? Why have those foods become the tradition in western culture?

As I was making my own almond flour to make some baked good that was wheat and grain-free, I wondered, why have we become so entrenched in using wheat? As I began making my own almond milk, I wondered, why have we become so dependent on cows? We can make milk from various nuts, seeds, and beans.

We hear slogans that "milk does a body good," or commercials bombarding us with what foods are healthy. Never are we aware, nor do we question, the agribusiness behind these claims. When we begin questioning the validity of their assertions and research, we're accused of being paranoid, suspicious, communists, or raving lunatics.

Customs become rules simply because we don't question them. We do it because our parents said that's what we should do. Or our government. Or a corporation. If we're loyal and patriotic, we do what our government says or become branded anarchists or worse. Or a black sheep in the family. It doesn't matter if it makes no sense. Follow a rule blindly because it's "right." Never mind logical.

But this sort of blind obedience is often caused by parenting that demands obedience from children, by parents who weren't allowed to question their parents, and so on. Schools that demand obedience from children. Employers that demand obedience from employees. At what point do we become human and stop following the rules that someone else creates? Where is our own humanity, doing something because it contains goodness and charity, regardless of how inhumane others are behaving?

This sort of blind obedience is what can cause people to commit heinous acts in the name of patriotism and loyalty, even saving others from other perceived villains. It's what every country's military requires in order to work as a unit to accomplish a mission. It works but at what cost to human life?

Corporations are aware that most people operate from these premises. They set themselves up as the authority, as do governments. Look to us, we have the answers. Don't bother thinking about things for yourselves. Just grin and nod and you'll do just fine. But each time we do this, something inside us is angry even if we suppress it and are unaware of our own suppression.

Seething anger and distrust can only be suppressed for so long. And in that, you see the eruption - both in earth changes and society, for both are entwined. It's what we're experiencing now. We have to become aware - of both our own anger and the goodness we possess. We have to stop blaming others and take responsibility for our own habits and actions.

Begin by questioning every day assumptions and beliefs of others, but especially yourself. What is the kind and humane thing to do? Do I have to stick rigidly to this regime to be a "good" person? Begin always with kindness. Become aware. The time is now, you can do it.

My quote of the day

2011-07-16T17:43:00.001-07:00

I've never been one to use bumper stickers, nor use my body for them either

Observing the outer world reveals a state of mind

2011-07-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

One hears often that the outer world reflects the inner world. It's simple to see how much we've lost touch with who we really are simply by observing the world.

We're living in an age of what I call extreme superficiality. People try to find the meaningful through the meaningless. We get into this fad or that fad, hoping it's "the thing," if we're in synch with society. But fads come and go.

This extreme superficiality began around the time of the Industrial Revolution. Automate everything, including human activities. We've lost touch with the daily rythm of life; the sun, the moon, the stars and the seasons. We bypass those rythms in favor of what occupies our minds. In not honoring the natural rythms, we begin to lose touch with the beauty of the moments of the day.

Greed has replaced rythms, natural cycles, and needs of the people. Corporations pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. They turn vital foods into abominations with little food value or beauty. Everything we require for the sustenance of life has been contaminated, which can only come from losing touch and greed ruling the decisions.

In order to save us from ourselves, our daily work, corporations have made machines to replace some of the tedious tasks. Even cooking has become tedious for the most part. The sheer joy of infusing food with our love and energy is a lost art to the majority.

We've become further removed from direct relationships by objects: TV, radio, Internet, phones and other ways to communicate that avoid looking into others' eyes. We change our looks and features and are still afraid to communicate directly. Text messaging, to me, reflects the amount of fear people experience from direct communication. Yet all of these things have a use, I'm just not so sure they're being used constructively for the most part.

Most industrialized countries have not only lost rythms of life, but how to maintain our own lives. We don't know how to grow our own food, when to plant, how to care for the gardens. So we rely on corporations that patent seeds, modify them to the point of extreme toxicity and control our food supply. When there is crisis, we won't know where to turn because we have lost the art of self reliance.

In order to save us from our direct relationship with our Creator and create dependence, humans have taken the place and become the spokespeople; interpreting our own relationship and telling us how to live. If we were in touch with ourselves, would we need another to tell us how to live? How to pray? How to meditate? These are innate and Creator-given. They aren't manmade, nor are they obscure to our own knowledge within. But we've worked hard at forgetting who we really are, mostly because we're afraid of who we really are.

In forgetting ourselves, it's simple to use chemicals on our hair for colors - both natural and unnatural colors derived from petrochemicals. Corporations clothe us with petrochemicals, plastics like polyester and rayon, under the guise of saving us time from ironing. We add and remove features of our bodies with plastic surgery. There's a reason it's called that.

Virtually every product we use to clean our bodies, home, clothing, cars, and other things, come from petrochemicals or harmful chemicals, for the majority of people. Our homes are constructed of man-made materials. There was an age where humans built from crystals, granite, then much later, limestone, wood, leaves, plants and earth. Now our indoor air pollution is a hazard to our health.

We use our bodies as walking billboards; clothing to call attention to ourselves, tattoos that have no real purpose but simply a statement about who we are, call it an artful expression. Poking holes in various parts of our bodies to decorate with the latest fad in accessories. If we behaved as we truly are, if we believed we were beautiful just the way we are, would we need to announce it with artificiality?

What happened to our inner, radiant beauty? Aren't we good enough?

We must have confidence that who we really are requires no artificial or superficial means. We don't have to wait to become something in order to radiate our beauty and live a gentler life. Examining what we put into the environment, into and onto our bodies, and how we treat one another is the first step to discovering the beauty and sacredness of life and ultimately ourselves.

There are no private thoughts - the power within you

2011-07-11T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today, I was reflecting on the fact that we have no private thoughts. So I looked up the lesson in A Course in Miracles that talks about this.

"...minds are joined. This is rarely a wholly welcome idea at first, since it seems to carry with it an enormous sense of responsibility, and may even be regarded as an 'invasion of privacy.' Yet it is a fact that there are no private thoughts." Lesson 19 ACIM

We have a tendency to believe that our thoughts exert no real influence. If you think of names of famous people, you might think they really made a name for themselves because they have confidence or ability we don't have. It comes down to stage fright for those who don't become known, or feeling no need to be known.

Most people are afraid to exert any real influence because of fear. Fear of being wrong, not liked, stupid, or a variety of others. Perhaps we've been raised with the idea that we aren't good enough. Being "not good enough" seems to be the underlying self-assertion, driven by fear.

We're afraid of having what we really want, because the fear of our own power is pervasive in all we say and do. We fear speaking out in a crowd because of our own safety and sense of security; we might lose it. Never mind that you can never lose what you truly have. But that doesn't mean the thoughts aren't there, waiting to be ignited into action.

Someone, somewhere, will have the courage to voice their ideas or abilities. This is why a movement can be witnessed, it was the culmination of the minds of the people. The counter-movement is the same fear of power, so it seeks to suppress.

When a movement begins that is harmful to humankind, a counter-movement often begins with that as well. We see that happening all over the world because media is available. But it also represents the split in our own minds.

Whenever there is fear, the need is to search for what's "outside" as the reason. So we seek to eliminate what we feel is the reason for the problem we face; a certain race, religion, political ideology, nationalism, gender, partner, or what have you. But joined minds create both the impoverishment and abundance. They are two sides of the same coin because you can't have one without the other. We create the problem (with fear) and seek to solve it. So the solution is in the problem.

If we weren't in conflict with ourselves, would there be conflict in the world? We might think others are the problem - if they just stop doing (fill in the blank), then the world will be peaceful and we can be at peace. So we seek to destroy, in any means possible, the ones who are allegedly causing harm to the world. Religions have done this in the name of religion, political leaders in the name of peace and prosperity. And so on.

But peace begins with us. Settling our own mind. Witness the fear - it is completely involuntary and part of joined minds. It is not our own personal or private thought. We don't need to destroy it or clear our minds, causing a void or blank state. Peace begins by simply observing without condemnation.

Enlightened individuals have made an impression on the world because of humanity's own crying out for itself. Conditions don't have to be tumultuous, but most of the time become so in order to ignite this longing to return to our own innate nature.

There is nothing in this world that hasn't been tainted. The water, land, air, and food have all been toxified. Yet so has every good thought and religion. I've encountered alleged spiritual leaders, from all religions and non-religions, who have so tainted the purity of "being," we look to them instead of ourselves. People promote those ideas as if they're the truth and will fight to preserve it. Spiritual and religious ideologies have caused more death in the world than anything else. Politics follows closely. Both lead to war. It's no wonder that among physical illness deaths, heart disease holds the number one spot.

Your thoughts have power. Love yourself, love one another, love the world. Stop judging and start embracing. You have the same power to shift humanity as anyone that's ever been famous. Just because you're in hiding from view doesn't mean you're any less.

Peace.

A Course in Miracles Quotes - Chapter 2 - 3 of 4

2010-11-11T20:23:00.000-08:00

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Here's my latest video creation. Enjoy!

Facial and Body Exfoliant Scrubs without Plastics!

2010-11-10T15:24:00.000-08:00

If you like to use exfoliating facial or body scrubs, it's best to avoid any that have plastic beads as the exfoliants. Plastics are in our environment at such an alarming rate, we must take our own measures to reduce it. Products with plastic beads should be banned.

If a product identifies micro-fine polyethylene beads, polyethylene micro spheres, polyethylene beads, polyethylene anything, skip it. Natural exfoliants such as walnut shells, apricot hulls, grape seeds, coarse sugar, sea salt, jojoba seeds, granulated bamboo, natural vegetable wax, or similar products are okay. Just skip those plastic beads. Based upon product labels, I’ve found them in: Crest Pro Health Fluoride Toothpaste, Colgate 2 in 1 Toothpaste & Mouthwash – Whitening Icy Blast, Pond’s Fresh Start Daily Exfoliating Cleanser, L’Oreal Pure Zone Pore Unclogging Scrub Cleanser, Aveeno Skin Brightening Scrub, and many more.

This is my favorite facial scrub, it has ground bamboo instead of plastic beads.

Bamboo Polish Exfoliant

The micro-particles are real bamboo, exfoliate dead cells leaving your skin smooth and alive. The ginkgo and ginseng are stimulating to the skin, which revitalizes and awakens even the weariest skin.

Weleda Birch Body Scrub

This body scrub is gentle, refreshing and invigorating. It's all natural and the beads are made of natural plant wax.

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Purple Cloud Qigong: from Wudang to Australia

2010-11-09T21:06:00.000-08:00

This is one of my all-time favorite Qigong exercises by Dan Stefan. It's not polished and professional like some (which I prefer), but it's authentic, real, poetic, energizing as well as calming. Need I say more?

Dan's blog is here: Tai Chi,Qigong & Meditation - Journey to the East

Watching Thoughts - More Powerful than Ever

2010-11-08T21:38:00.000-08:00

There I was, enjoying a day of touring in and around Vancouver with my husband and a colleague of his, visiting from out of town. Then, bam! Spasm after spasm rolled with every single breath I took, as if taking air in my lung was pressing against an organ to cause the pain and spasm. Or was I needing a breath to try to calm each spasm?

We dropped off the colleague in Chinatown and headed to the emergency room (ER). On the way, I felt wave after wave of pain travel from what seemed like my right kidney, down the right side of my back, only to start again. I cried out in pain with each, as if enduring the birth and labor of having a child.

I thought, oh no, don't tell me it's a kidney stone.

They rolled me into admissions, writhing in pain and calling out in agony. I could only keep my eyes clenched tightly shut as I concentrated on calming myself to allow whatever was happening to just happen. I didn't know who was in the room and didn't care.

Someone took my left hand into theirs. Not opening my eyes and trusting it was to comfort me, I pictured a middle aged, dark skinned woman. She felt like she was from Bangladesh or some such country. As soon as she took my hand, I felt like roaring with laughter at the absurdity of the situation. It made me think instantly that it was all some big drama and not to be frightened. I was bigger than this. Then I quickly dismissed that thought, thinking, this must be my husband's hand and forgot about it since the pain begged my full concentration.

They finally wheeled me to a room. They began the usual procedures with an IV drip and questioning me. I could barely answer between gasps of breath between the spasms. They gave me something to prevent nausea and something for slight pain relief but nothing more. They left the room.

I laid there thinking to myself, healing is not a miracle. I'd watched the recent video I made for Youtube, countless times, on this subject and those words came to mind again and again. But the thought that caused the illness needs to be shifted. I don't know what thought caused this problem, what initiated it. I thought, I don't need this kind of illness. The last thing I need, because I know I have many years ahead of me, is to be debilitated by something like kidney stones, which I've heard repeat again and again. So I prayed. I told God that I didn't know what error in thinking had caused this, but whatever it was, I needed help. I needed help in shifting the error because I didn't know how to do it or what I'd done.

Within minutes, I found myself sitting bolt upright and leaning forward slightly. The extreme pain and spasms ended instantly.

I thought, oh great. Now they're going to think it was psychological. The constant pain continued and spasms to the point I couldn't lay on my back, but I no longer had to call out in pain and it was tolerable. They gave me morphine. It didn't seem to phase it. They finally gave me some oxycodone and it took the constant pain down so that I could sleep a bit. The spasms continued in a minor way. They continued to travel down the right side of my back and into the groin area.

They took a CT scan. They found nothing, no stones in the kidneys, ureters nor bladder. They said to come back the next day for an ultrasound to see if there was maybe a stone stuck in a liver duct, even though I'd had my gall bladder removed. They said this happened sometimes. I said I doubted it because I knew what that kind of stone felt like. This wasn't it.

Now that I was relaxed, Daniel told me how sweet it was for "that woman" to hold my hand to comfort me. When he first told me, I thought he said it was a nurse. Then he repeated it later and said it was a woman, much as I described, who was waiting for an elderly man she was with, dressed in what looked like monks robes. He said they looked like from some Asian country and when I asked if it was Bangladesh, he instantly said that's the look they had about them but he couldn't be sure. He said she had done this when he had to go park the car. He didn't have time to thank her, she ran off as soon as he returned.

Having the ultrasound proved useless as well. They found nothing. Good liver, good kidneys and good appendix. Well fine. So was this a stone they just never could find that was so small or was it an instantaneous healing?

I thought, this could be possibly the only two explanations, though unlikely, that could be: when the woman held my hand, I had instant feelings of peace and that life wasn't "real" - it was just something my body thought it had to do. Did she pray for me? It felt like it but I'll never know for sure. Second, when I prayed to have my errors in thought shifted and sat bolt upright with the pain gone, is that what really happened? Was it a combination of prayers? I'll never know what the error in thinking was, but I'm ever so glad the problem went away on its own.

Over the next 24 hours, I had no pain anywhere and had stopped taking any pain medication. All I can think is, how we live in times now when our thoughts are more powerful than ever - either in creating a problem or resolving one. Take care, your thinking can and does influence everything in your life.

I send this message of gratitude to the woman who took my hand. Thank you for your kindness.

A Course in Miracles Quotes - Chapter 2 - 2 of 4

2010-10-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

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This section of the A Course in Miracles has less beatific passages, yet equally important ones. Numerous references to what miracles are exist, yet equally important are what miracles are not. Too many times, I've attended a function only to have people go around the circle and recite their latest "miracle," which is nothing more than getting a close parking space or getting a job. Reducing the Course down to a level not intended is something important to dispel. If we stop short of what the Course truly has to offer, we only delay our own progress.
My latest video, enjoy!

Is World Peace Possible?

2010-10-11T01:31:00.000-07:00

"Harmony" - Family of Angels

watercolor by Tammy Peterson

Years ago when I was homeschooling my own children, I had a three days a week homeschool for other kids in our home. Every day, we'd start with a sharing circle. It would start the tone of the day, but most importantly, I was interested in what kids had to say about their views of the world. I'm not sure who learned more - me or the kids.

One day, we were talking about war in the world, likely due to the Gulf War that had recently taken place and the war in Somalia. We talked about being at peace with ourselves, and is it possible to do that?

At one point, I asked the group if they thought world peace could ever be possible. One girl quickly snapped, "No way!" Curious, I asked her why she thought that. She said, "I can't even get along with my own mom, how could the whole world get along?"

I don't remember how I addressed it, but it came down to the issue that the world was a greater view of what was going on within our own homes, but mostly within ourselves. We had a need to bring about peace within ourselves and our own home. The kids all agreed on that one, and we all agreed that was hard to do.

All these years since then, I've had a poster of a Chinese proverb I made, on my wall in easy view.

"If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.

If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.

If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world."

May you each find peace within.

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Birth of the feminine - egoless state

2010-10-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

The Birth of Venus

William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Note: I usually look at articles written about the "feminine" with disdain. Our core nature isn't masculine nor feminine, and this isn't about who's better and who's worse. But while in this world, there are tendencies of the genders, and the masculine has been the ruling class for centuries. With the "birth" of a new energy, the appropriate analogy is the feminine.

Because some of my work is similar to Caroline Myss, a friend of mine forwarded me an email that Caroline sent out recently. Caroline asked the questions, "I am obviously in the process of losing something, saying goodbye to something – but what? – Thus, it is equally true that I must be developing a new appetite for something – but what?" Caroline then leads people through a process of self evaluation. But after having some of the same questions in my mind this last couple of days, I see a different take on things.

It's not about "us." It's becoming clear that what we search for is our own process and ego, and that's when we get this feeling of loss. There's nothing to search for, because it's not there. That's why we're feeling depressed, angry, or what have you. There's nothing to evaluate because that involves horizontal time, rather than allowing it to be exactly as it is, linear time. All things that need to be shed will do so by themselves. We don't need to make a movement in that direction unless it spontaneously bubbles up out of us as the right thing to do.

Last night, I had a dream about giving birth to a female baby - the whole ordeal and process was pretty painful but there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it or change it. A birth simply takes place and we have no control. It does no good to evaluate it. It's going to happen - regardless of outcome.

So the way I see it is to accept the process in all its pain and along with that comes joy. We don't need to understand it. Understanding is part of the ego world, a masculine energy, so that it can conclude and try to manipulate events. That's not the way of the feminine energies. The feminine simply allows the process because it entails far less pain.

Many people throughout the world are experiencing these movements without understanding them - because it's not about "us" or "them." They think it's about them, their own depression, anxiety, anger, or whatever label they put on it - and in the process, they seek for events or people outside them to focus on or blame as what's "not working." We think, if only we could change or get rid of what's "not working," whether it's a relationship, job, health or possessions, then maybe we'll be happy. It's not about that. Because whatever our eyes light upon that isn't "working," is simply a reflection of our internal state of mind. Look at this statement without anger or guilt. It simply is.

When an outward event is witnessed without feeling judgement over it, we can know it's simply the way of the world and feel compassion for those in ignorance. "Forgive them for they know not what they do." Then it's no longer our own internal reflection. It's the world of the ego.

If I want kind, compassionate people around me, then I try to behave in those manners. And when the people around me don't behave as what I think I'm like, I get discouraged and want to either discontinue my association with that person or change it. But what if we take a good look and see that compassion isn't something we can conform ourselves into being. That isn't true compassion, it's nothing more than an outward show of it while inside we're still in turmoil. What is genuine compassion? It's nothing we can force, it simply exists without effort.

We can only come to these realizations if we have a still mind. We need to allow the space for reflection. If one tries to fill their lives with constant activity or dulling the senses with substances, we have no time to be with ourselves or what is. Being alone with oneself, without activities, is hard because it entails feeling the pain we suppress. We suppress pain with all those activities or substances. The more we suppress, the more turmoil the world is in around us. We see our own pain through the world. You can't escape it, much as you try.

It's time to realize - you are not in charge - you are not in control. Thank God. The only way for humanity to move "forward" is to simply allow other forces to lift us up out of the mire.

We each have angel's wings beneath us. We can rebel at leaving the ego behind because it's not in charge any longer. But, like the birth of a child kicking and screaming, it's going to happen. The hardest thing for us is to simply be. Be with it. Allow the emotions to flood over us with grace. They aren't ours. They're the world of the ego consciousness. We're discarding it.

This isn't happening suddenly in one day, one week, or even a month. It's coming in waves because we are human and need to adapt to avoid overload. Welcome these periods with joy.

A Willing Participant

2010-10-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was wrestling with the idea that perhaps I should abandon making more Youtube videos of quotes on A Course in Miracles. I have a lot of idle time these days, and it's something I simply enjoy doing. I often wonder if it's childish, as it is non-professionally produced. But then I look at other content on the Course on Youtube and think, oh no, this has to be included with no interpretations because the interpreters are making a mess of things. It's up to each individual and their relationship with God to come upon what's true within themselves. No other person can give that.

Yes, there are teachers who are like beacons, but the beacon isn't the thing to follow. We must find it within ourselves. We are the ones we've been waiting for. Not another teacher nor another person to follow.

Last night, I had a series of dreams in which I experienced a great many and varied past lives, even hearing the dates of some. I was asked merely to witness. As I witnessed events I had once labeled as a problem, I began to see there was only absolute perfection and beauty. I no longer saw any kind of problem. These dreams were inspirational and brought me a lot of joy.

So when I woke up, I thought about a quote I'd read in the Course about miracles acting retroactively as well as progressively. I searched the quotes I'm about to produce in my next video but could find nothing on this. So I went to the Course to look for the quote and found it. It happened to be in the next section I was planning to make a video out of, and I already had the sentence that preceded the quote but didn't include the quote I was searching. So now I know I'm to include that quote as well.

Is making 10 minute videos productive? Is it useful? I don't know. I only know I enjoy doing it and love watching what I've produced. It brings me peace and in the end, that's all that really matters.

In not seeking an outcome, I'm witnessing the beauty of miracles without effort. It's as if I'm being given great gifts for what I do - experiences given to me without seeking them, joy, beauty and what feels like a true relationship with the author of the Course. It humbles me immensely.

One Light, One Sun

2010-10-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

In 1990, I drove from Oregon to New Mexico with my 3 children over 3 days to attend a 40 days spiritual retreat on A Course in Miracles with Tara Singh, with a group of 120 others. After some intense conflict between my husband (former now) and me, his cruel behavior towards my being involved in any spiritual pursuits, it was a worrisome drive but as I left him behind in Oregon, I put the conflict out of my mind and behind me. Something in me knew the conflict wasn't real, that this was something I had to do for my own sanity.

On this long drive, Raffi was the favorite standby music, as we'd all sing together. In the early morning when the sun was rising and the kids asleep in the car, this song played while watching the sun rise against the vivid red mountains and pillars of stone in the desert. To be in that moment of such beauty, peace and joy has never left me. It was a gift and I cherish it, nor can I ever forget it.

A Course in Miracles Quotes - Chapter 2 - 1 of 4

2010-10-04T13:02:00.000-07:00

The latest video, with more to come...

Bird in Flight

2010-09-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I began making a new video for A Course in Miracles. I searched everywhere on the Internet for a creative commons (non-copyrighted) picture of a seagull in flight, using lots of search terms. I came up empty handed after a couple hours searching. It was time for bed and I was tired.

Today was such a sunny and warm day, we decided to go on a venture up the Fraser River Valley here in British Columbia. I brought along my camera.

When we got to a lake area along the river, we got out of the car to view the surrounding beauty. Suddenly the wind picked up in an uncanny way. It made me think it was supernatural and felt like messages sent on the wind.

I suddenly began noticing seagulls floating on the wind and turned my camera from the mountains and wind-brushed clouds to the birds above us. I caught a few cool pictures of the birds.

When we made it back to the car, it suddenly dawned on me that was the exact subject I'd been searching for the night before. I find it amusing how that event came upon us so naturally and unplanned. Now I can proceed making the video!

A Course in Miracles Quotes - Chapter 1

2010-09-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

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This is my latest production after having read this chapter in A Course in Miracles. There are certain lines that really impact me. Enjoy!

The case of spilled milk - or water in this case

2010-09-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

When we do something we judge as wrong, we may lament about it. So the saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk" is a wise one, originating from a proverb in 1659 in James Howell's Paroimiografia. These days, I'm learning a lot about accepting everything that happens.

One night before going to bed, I was preparing food for the next day's meal. When I turned to the sink for water, I knocked over a glass of water and made a noise of surprise when it clunked loudly and spilled. After explaining to Daniel what the commotion was, he said the same thing almost happened to him just minutes before with the same glass of water. He happened to catch it before much spilled. So I said, "It looks like that glass of water was meant to be spilled then." Why? Such an insignificant thing can make one ponder and take more time to be conscious or careful.

Have you ever noticed that the impatient driver who wants to get around you, who's being a jerk, usually never truly gets ahead? You find him right in front of you at the next stop light. Or the guy in the grocery store line, trying to cut in front of everyone who's already been waiting? Sure, occasionally these people get "ahead," but at what expense to the kindness to others? Is that really getting ahead?

Maybe it's time to slow down and accept events as they come. Sometimes we wind up getting what we want, when we want it. But if delayed, there's probably a good reason to slow down and relax.

This is what I have to tell myself these days especially. "Just relax and breathe." There really need be no hurry. All those thoughts, just from a glass of spilled water.

What is Gratefulness?

2010-07-26T18:35:00.001-07:00

An inspired reading from The Voice that Precedes Thought by Tara Singh. I rang two of my Tibetan bowls. Background music is by Benjamin Iobst from Seven Metals.

What Is Gratefulness? by Tara Singh - Read By Jhm (9316 KB)
Listen on posterous

What is the Christ?

2010-05-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

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Back in 1986, I "stumbled" upon quotes on A Course in Miracles in the sidebars of a book on water birth (The Healing Power of Birth), at a homebirth convention I attended in Chicago. The book talked about a movement called "rebirthing" to heal our own emotional traumas to make way for a better life for our own children that we birthed. But the quotes from the Course haunted me, as if that was more important than any other content in the book.

We were living in Sparks, Nevada at the time. I sought out someone who did rebirthing there, and funnily enough, discovered the founder of the rebirthing movement owned property and did sessions not far from where we lived, in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was called Campbell Hot Springs, and the founder was Leonard Orr. He was (and is) quite the cult figure and carried many strange ideas.

But when I attended a meeting that introduced the philosophy of rebirthing, a man there began talking about a study group at the Reno Unity church, on A Course in Miracles. I felt like I really had to investigate it.

So I came to that first Course in Miracles meeting. When I was there, I discovered the set of books was $25 - quite a lot of money in 1986, for a set of books. I hesitated because of the price but mostly not wanting to sink money into another dead end to "salvation" as so many different cults and religions claimed. So the group moderator suggested I buy Tara Singh's book first (very inexpensive), called, "How to Learn from A Course in Miracles." (I notice it's not available any longer at the Joseph Plan website, producers of the original book).

When I began to read the book in my alone time, it made me cry without understanding why, and it also made me angry. I decided that Tara Singh was trying to act as another guru for the Course, and instead of following a guru, I bought the Course at my next meeting. The quotes he referred to sounded true and I couldn't get over wanting to know more.

When I complained about Tara Singh's work at the next meeting, a man there said I might get a better grasp of who he was if I listened to a set of tapes he donated to the lending library, a talk of Tara Singh's, called "What is the Christ?"

Here is a link to the book and a description that doesn't do it justice but is a good start.

What is the Christ?
This link will take you to how to order the CDs.

"Thought itself can never know what the Christ is.” Tara Singh

"In five intimate and lofty sessions, Tara Singh explores the question of man’s reality directly and powerfully. Demonstrating the actuality of what the Lessons of A Course In Miracles impart, Tara Singh takes us beyond verbal and intellectual understanding."

So I took the tapes home and listened to the first tape in my private time. I could barely understand a word. I nodded off. I couldn't have told you what the tapes said. I thought because he was from India and English wasn't his native language, he couldn't speak normal English. But there was this unfamiliar feeling of deep peace that accompanied the talking, so I knew it was something I had to experience.

By the third and final tape, I discovered by this time I wouldn't be able to stay conscious anyway, so just listen while laying down when I went to bed that night. I figured it wasn't the words that were important at all, but instead the state of peace that was all that mattered. So I started listening, or rather, felt like I was floating in a borderless realm. I didn't move a single muscle because I couldn't let my body intrude on this deep sense of peace.

The tape turned off without my knowledge and I noticed hearing people talking to one another all night long, as if every word they spoke meant my life depended on hearing it, and was instructional - but mostly that the conversation I heard on the tape hadn't ended. I couldn't tell you anything they said to me. My conscious mind couldn't grasp it, so memory couldn't touch it. But I asked one of them, "Why can't I understand what Tara Singh is saying?" He said, "His words are so profound yet simple, it's difficult for the human mind to grasp." I recognized the next morning when I woke up that they had talked to me all night long. It was like a faint call home - one of such deep abiding peace that I never wanted to leave that state. Their very voices were peace.

The next time I came to a Miracles meeting, I returned the tapes. I told the guy who suggested the tapes that I couldn't understand a word on them. He said, "Ya, I figure it's like they're so simple yet profound, they're hard to grasp."

I created the above video because I'm so inspired by all of Tara Singh's talks, but this was the first I'd ever heard that influenced things to come. I was worried about posting this or even making it, afraid of violating copyright laws. I've written to the copyright holders numerous times, over the course of months, but they never respond. When I posted this, fearing offense or being accused of a motive, or violating copyright, a voice said, "Forget about them. There are no laws but God's!" (Those who know the Course recognize Lesson 76, I am under no laws but God's.) It's my intent to honor Tara Singh's words with integrity, not to change them but to reproduce only a short segment of his own words with no interpretation. If what he says sparks something in you, you can obtain the full set of tapes at the link I provided above.

I don't work for the Joseph Plan, nor is it my intent to make money, nor to generate income for the Joseph Plan even though it's a charitable organization. My only source is inspiration. I've been moved and inspired by the work. We're all connected, and so what moves me can move others.

This is Tara Singh's commentaries on lesson 271, What is the Christ?

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Bill Moyer's Final Show: The Journal: Extended Final Show

2010-05-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

These two interviews are fascinating and informative. I want to read some of Barry Lopez's books! The first interview shows, among other things, why I'm in process of leaving Bank of America and migrating to BECU. The second part of the interview shows a state of mind we must come to for humanity - what Lopez calls "a state of grace."

Click the link to view

The Journal: Extended Final Show

Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

2010-05-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

Princeton News: A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

Seeking is Suffering

2010-05-21T15:14:00.001-07:00

Seeking is suffering. If you're seeking wealth, fame, happiness, or anything, the source is fear, of not having, and trying to make things happen on your own strength. Stop seeking and be at peace. The world would shift.

Be Still an Instant - from A Course in Miracles

2010-05-21T15:12:00.000-07:00

On my license plate holder, I had engraved the saying, "Be still an instant." One time, a guy walks up to me in a parking lot and asks, "What exactly does that mean?" I said, "Try it and find out."

Beginning of professional readings

2010-05-06T00:12:00.000-07:00

For several years after my training and discovery of my ability to scan, I mostly just dabbled in doing readings. I didn't advertise and didn't try to start a business. In the meantime, I started massage school in 1995 to give myself a "legitimate" license to affect people's health in positive ways. I discovered that when I put my hands on people, it was like applying an x-ray machine. It was intriguing and I began experimenting with family and friends to see how accurately I could see.

At the end of 1997, my massage education was interrupted when we moved to the Seattle area for the benefit of my daughter's ballet training. By this time, my marriage was completely falling apart. A year after arriving in Seattle, my marriage ended. This forced me to seek employment to support my family. There was no way I could afford to attend an expensive massage school and raise kids.

In 2003, I got in a fairly serious auto accident that required me to seek therapies for pain relief. Between having to earn money for my family, getting whiplash that caused numbness in two of my fingers, and two bones broken in my hand, I thought there was no way I could ever return to my massage education. I sadly accepted that fact and didn't think more about it.

One of the people I saw was for massage therapy. Because I was getting therapy 2-3 times per week, I became friends with my therapist and told her about my readings. To me, it was like a passing conversation that I never expected to turn into anything except for her amusement. But she was almost shaken and began encouraging me to seriously get into professional readings. The clinic she worked at supported this type of work and she put in a good word for me to the head of the clinic. He was a man that did energy work and intuitive consultations.

When he heard about me, he scheduled an interview. I parked on the street outside, thinking it had no time limit and I'd be done shortly. My therapist was present for the interview. She reported to me afterward that it was like observing two gods meeting for the first time - the power in the room was palpable. There was no doubt he had abilities and he planned to put mine to the test. So he interviewed me, asking questions about six different people.

Unlike my first reading, where I didn't realize I was being tested, this time I expected it. But once again, little did I know that I wasn't truly being tested. He already recognized my abilities and wanted me to answer cases that remained a mystery to him - ones he was unable to help as much as he wanted.

I noticed that when he asked me certain questions I thought were unethical, I got really odd sensations just to the left of my crown area. It felt like a piercing discomfort. He noticed this and energetically removed the discomfort. I told him I couldn't answer some of these questions, as it was outside my ethics boundaries, and this is what caused the piercing pain. So he stopped asking those fortunately.

When that part was over, we began discussing what my hourly rate would be. He said he'd inform some of his clients and let them schedule with me if they were interested.

When I returned to my car, I found a $40 parking violation. This was my first clue, in addition to his asking unethical questions, that something wasn't right about this relationship. I still decided to let it unfold and see what came next.

By this time, I was working for my parent's company and traveling to eastern Washington for a business trip at their office. I was caught speeding and pulled over. The officer claimed I had an unpaid ticket in Oregon and they were impounding my car. I told him there was a mistake, I'd paid that ticket over a year prior. But apparently Oregon never notified Washington, or Washington never bothered to find out. The officer refused to find out and my car was hauled away. Fortunately, the tow truck driver asked me if I needed a ride back to town, realizing I was stuck in the middle of the countryside.

I had to spend the night at a motel until the court hearing the following morning. I called to Oregon first thing in the morning and got a written statement from them. The judge released my car but I still had to pay the expensive impound fees. I wanted to fight this in court but never put the energy into it.

Being stuck alone overnight, with not even a form of public transit or rental car, in a small town gave me time to reflect. It was intuited to me that if I continued down my path of living and working, I'd be stuck with roadblocks. I knew something had to change, particularly with my possible readings at that clinic.

The next time I came to the clinic for a chiropractic adjustment (DNFT), I noticed some flyers in the doctor's office. They were advertising my services with a price almost twice as much as we'd discussed. I was floored. The clinic manager never ran the flyer by me first, didn't even ask my background, he just made it up based on a few things I told him. The chiropractor told me the clinic manager had already arranged to have me do six readings the following Saturday.

I was unnerved by the flyer and immediately fired off an email to the clinic manager about the unethical nature of his advertisement, both to me and to the potential clients. They deserved to pay less and to have the truth about my background. He may have explained that there would be overhead for use of the room, but we didn't discuss any contracts or room rental fees. I was a bit naive where that was concerned but he knew what he was doing.

The next thing I knew, he canceled all the appointments with people who had scheduled and told them it was a good thing, that I was evil. When I was having an appointment with another bodyworker a week later, I knew he'd done something, while I was in session with her, to notify her that I shouldn't be there. Sure enough, when she left our session, she said he'd left a note on her desk that I was evil and she should be wary of me.

I stopped going to that clinic entirely. I later found out that he got a doctorate diploma through the internet without getting the education to back it up. He tried to get my massage therapist to do the same but she told him it was unethical and wouldn't do it herself. She left the clinic and I continued seeing her. She also disclosed to me how this manager was a womanizer.

One of the six readings I did when he interviewed me was about a woman who had all the symptoms for lymphoma but doctors couldn't find out what her problem was. The clinic manager didn't know either. But I told him it was from a flower essence remedy that she was allergic to, and the allergic reaction was in her entire immune system, imitating lymphoma.

Fast forward one more year. By this time, I'd met a medical doctor who was interested in my work, but not because I was seeking it. I came to her office to set her up for medical record dictation, because that's what we did at my parent's company. She also interviewed me and before I knew it, I was doing medical reading consults at her office, with her running tests to find out if I'd been accurate. Her eyebrows were raised numerous times, from what I was told.

This doctor had a Family Constellation workshop in her home over a weekend and I attended. One of the participants and I were drawn in friendship. We met regularly for a meal or coffee. One day, she suddenly said to me that I had saved her life. I looked at her quizzically, thinking she was joking. She told me about the flower essence reading, and I clearly remembered it. I said, "That was YOU? Wow, we were meant to meet." She said she stopped taking that particular essence and within no time, she was back to her normal self. She thanked me, because she was sure she would've continued to get worse had it not been for that reading.

It came out that the clinic manager had never told her I was the one who did the reading. He claimed the credit. But through another doctor, who also left the clinic due to the manager's unethical ways, he was told the story. This doctor told my friend how it all came about. My friend had been seeing the doctor who told her and the clinic manager for bodywork sessions. She stopped going to the manager when he told her she needed to look at herself in the mirror every day and tell herself, "I hate you."

But I have to thank him for the lesson I learned. You can't rely on anyone else for validation or direction. This kind of work has its own direction. If you follow what is ethical, treat everyone with a sense of dignity and respect, and don't allow yourself to be used, the work comes on its own.

My relationship with the doctor consults ended because the doctor got upset with how things were progressing. Her patients were more interested in saving money by only coming to me and getting her to do the right tests and prescriptions - from accounts I heard, she had a pretty big fight with a mother of a young man I did a reading on. She also had serious ethical issues - overcharging clients, running unnecessary tests to make more money, and other things. So it's good that relationship ended.

I still would love to work with a doctor again - because I can't diagnose and treat but I can help a doctor not waste time with unnecessary and expensive tests. The way I see it is if there were an ethical doctor, they would've found me or I would've found them - but also, there are so many people calling themselves medical intuitives these days, doctors sometimes aren't sure what to trust. I can't blame them - I've met some pretty odd intuitives that don't seem accurate. I'm still waiting for the day I meet a doctor I can work with. Until then, I'm doing what I do on my own, referring to other healthcare professionals I trust when needed.

In the meantime, through another series of events that I'll explain in a later blog, I was able to finish my education and get my massage license. I love my work!

My first reading

2010-05-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

In the late 1980s, I did my first energy reading, outside of class training, shortly after finishing my Alpha Awareness Training class with Wally Minto. A close friend, intrigued by what I told her about the class, decided to test me. I didn't know it was a test at the time, I thought she was genuinely curious.

I'd never met any of her other family members, other than her husband and children, and she'd never told me about their lives or where they lived. But this day, she asked me about her maternal grandmother. She said, the family feared her grandmother might have colon cancer, and could I "look" to see?

So I did my scan, and saw what her home looked like, the things that were important to her, how she groomed herself, and the way she liked to dress. I described these things in detail and got confirming feedback from an amazed friend. But when I looked internally, I saw a very red and inflamed colon, and a blackened area - which always symbolically means a real problem.

Now I found myself in an awkward position. First, I couldn't legally diagnose. Second, it suddenly hit me how a doctor must feel on having to break the news. But, I saw it and nervously told her what I saw.

Instead of the reaction I was expecting, shock and sadness, she instantly quipped, "Yes, that's right." I was bewildered. She went on to say, she'd just heard that day the doctors told her she had colon cancer. I fired back at her, "Then why did you ask me if you already knew?"

"I was testing to see if you really could see," was her tart reply.

I hadn't seen that one coming, so much for my intuitive abilities - I completely trusted her to be above board. This experience didn't teach me to mistrust. It taught me to be cautious about how readily I answered someone, if they were sincere, and if they were spying on someone without their permission. It also taught me that I would never allow this gift to be used as a form of entertainment, or myself the subject of experiments.

So I made my first policy, that I would never read others without their permission. There were other policies that came along the way, such as a reading couldn't be given as a gift. This is because the desire has to come from the person themselves, otherwise it's wasted. It's the same reason I don't do sliding scale fees - it's unfortunate but true that people don't value what they haven't worked for.

View of Vancouver

2010-04-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

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These pictures were taken with my cell phone camera (crappy, I know) during my walk up the hill from our apartment today. It's 3 blocks above where we live.

Your Heart is like a Flower « Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talks

2010-04-20T17:31:00.000-07:00

Your Heart is like a Flower « Thich Nhat Hanh Dharma Talks

This is a beautiful talk given by Thich Nhat Hanh. It brings a real state of peacefulness. There's a short note and 65 minute audio track you can listen to online or download for free. Click the link to listen and read.

Prayer of Jabez - its impact on my life

2010-03-20T15:29:00.000-07:00

"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that Thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested." - 1 Chronicles 4:10

To see the commentary on this prayer, click Prayer of Jabez.

This prayer had powerful effects for me. Prior to getting married and living in Europe, I used to have this prayer posted on my bathroom mirror. As you can imagine, I saw this prayer several times a day, especially because after every bodywork session I gave, I washed my hands.

The original plan, when I went to Denmark to marry, was to return to the Seattle area after one month of honeymoon and continue my business until my husband's next contract. His contract at that time had less than one year before completion. He knew he wouldn't be staying at his current university, and could possibly be in any one of various countries in the world.

But here's what unfolded. I had become debt free about a year prior to my marriage. I began to put money in savings. When my landlords discovered I was marrying in December 2008, they said it was perfect timing for them. Due to the US recession, they needed to return from living in Spain to their home. So they gave me notice to vacate in the very month I needed to go to Europe. So, I had a huge garage sale and put my remaining things in storage. As a wedding gift and good will, my family gave me enough money to pay storage fees for my entire stay in Europe.

I left the US with only two suitcases of my clothing and other necessities. With the cost of housing in Seattle and needing to find a space with either my business running out of my home, or separately, it was a hard choice to live financially separate. I was unable to find any suitable places before leaving for Europe, hard as I tried. So I had a place to stay when returning and I decided to start the search again once I returned.

But after our marriage and some discussion with my husband and his family, everyone suggested it was more financially feasible for me to remain in Europe than return to the US. Had I had debts, I couldn't have remained in Europe. We couldn't have afforded to pay my debts and for me to live there on his income. I had enough money in savings to handle miscellaneous expenses, like maintaining my massage license and taking online CE credit courses to meet the licensing requirements.

My ancestors came from both Germany and Croatia, and possibly Spain and France. I was able to spend time in all those countries (and more) while living in Austria. It was my feeling that to stand in the countries of my family roots, it gave me strength. Not only was my "territory" enlarged, but those countries affected me as much as I may have affected them.

While living in Austria, there were pervasive feelings of the area needing deep healing ever since the days of WWII and beyond. I had dreams at night about how the area once looked and the extreme deprivation and sorrow that permeated the area. Like-minded friends back in the US would write how my energy was needed to heal wounds in those places. But it was hard on me and I resorted to prayer and clearing energies sessions often. Eventually it settled down, not long before we moved to Canada.

Living with only two suitcases of my own possessions for almost a year taught me non-attachment. My things weren't who I am, much as I cried over packing my massage room decor. My massage room was hardest to leave because of the deep peace everyone experienced upon entering the space. But, I created it with my own two hands and could create such a place elsewhere.

I learned that wherever I am, I'm not my possessions nor what I wear. We only have our own bodies and minds to move through the world. Our personal status, what we wear, and what we possess makes no difference. We can emanate our own "being" anywhere we live. Cultivating our inner life is the only thing that really makes sense. The external life has no lasting impact.

I was grateful to have the opportunity to live in Europe and I miss being there. I'm also told in so many ways that my energy is needed where I now live. It's not easy, once again, but it's a much "cleaner" environment energetically.

I feel very blessed to receive what God has given.

J. Krishnamurti - Truth is a Pathless Land

2010-03-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've included this under my Spirituality tab, but for me it's an important subject to bring to one's attention. There are also other videos by Krishnamurti under that tab.

J. Krishnamurti is often referred to as "K." He's been one of my most influential teachers.

J. Krishnamurti - The Speaker

Chai (Indian Tea)

2010-03-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from the man who owns Cedars Restaurant in the U district in Seattle. He gave it to me because I loved their tea so much!

Makes 4 cups tea.

3 cups water
2 tea bags orange pekoe tea (a very strong tea like this is the only kind best for chai)
10 cardamom pods (whole or crushed)
8 cloves
1/4 tsp. fennel seed
sugar (or honey or other sweetener) to taste
Optional: cinnamon, cinnamon sticks, whole or powdered ginger

Bring all ingredients to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes. This will reduce the liquid by 1 cup.

Add 4 cups milk and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Strain before serving.

Some people add a dash of black pepper while boiling with the other spices, but this tea is excellent without it. I got this recipe from Cedar's on Brooklyn restaurant in Seattle years ago, from the owner (who was east Indian). He gave it to me because I raved about how good their chai was there. It's a huge hit with everyone of my friends and family.

Picture Show: You Are What You Eat - Picture Show - GOOD

2010-03-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

"...if the aphorism holds true—if we really are what we eat—then refrigerators are like windows into our souls."

I found this pictorial really interesting! It made me think of my own fridge's message, and when moving in with Daniel in Europe, how balanced & tidy his fridge was impressed me (for a bachelor especially).

Picture Show: You Are What You Eat - Picture Show - GOOD

Don't indulge in the mass delusion of fear

2010-03-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

We are no more our own ego (dark side of ourselves, which is illusory) than we unknowingly engage in it. But it takes an aware person to realize the ego is an illusion we don't need to give energy. The person who claims someone "is" the dark side (or creating their own fear) is to engage in it themselves, giving the illusion strength and not affirming the true nature of that person.

We don't own fear nor insecurity, but we can indulge in the mass delusion of it if we so choose. The ego (fear) is a stream of consciousness that belongs to this world of opposites.

We each have the strength to rise above what appears to be fearful. Remember and recognize, you are safe if you simply trust you are.

Capra Mineral Whey

2010-03-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

I try to have Capra Mineral Whey on hand at all times and drink daily. It's really helped with acidity/alkaline balance in the blood. It may not sound tasty because it comes from goat milk, but it's actually naturally sweet with no added sweeteners. Goat milk is the closest equivalent to human milk. But this shouldn't be used as an infant formula.

I either drink 1-2 tablespoons mixed in hot water or in a smoothie, chock full of fresh fruit.

A 100% Natural, Mineral Rich, Electrolyte replacement from Goat-Milk Whey

• Uniquely processed at low temperature to retain nutritional integrity
• Made from goat-milk whey powder
•Contains more than 20 naturally occurring minerals in a highly complex whole food
• A highly concentrated alkaline mineral supplement
• Mt. Capra goats are not fed antibiotics or growth hormones and are never exposed to pesticides or herbicides.

The Legacy We Leave

2010-03-11T15:00:00.000-08:00

Yo-Yo Ma is a world class musician, known for his cello music throughout the world. Lately, we've watched parts of this program on his (and other famous peoples') ancestry at the link below. I was deeply impressed by the research done on Yo-Yo Ma's ancestry. I can't find a clip on it, but the researcher told Yo-Yo which ancestor had planted the seeds to make it possible for him to become a musician. It was many generations prior, someone who never knew Yo-Yo.

Yo-Yo Ma | Faces of America | PBS

The reason it impressed me is that we may think our actions today don't affect others, but the effort we take to pave the path for our own children can make a huge difference in the world. My entire life has been devoted to undoing so many problems that plague our family by working on my own issues. I was once told I was paving the way for future generations, to make their insights into human behavior come quickly so they wouldn't have those same struggles. We may not see these things manifest in our own lifetime, but we live on through the impressions we make on others. We can each be a light to the world.

Yo-Yo Ma plays the prelude from Bach´s Cello Suite No. 1

Tea Tree Oil

2010-03-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

There's so much written about Tea Tree Oil, I'm not going to re-invent the wheel. Here's a link that's useful to get started.

Tea Tree Essential Oil, Everything You Need to Know About It!

From a personal consult, a client had a large, raw spot on their ear. They were putting neosporin on it to try to heal it. But through a reading, I discovered it was a fungus from using the telephone so many hours to make business sales calls. The neosporin ointment was not only the perfect medium for fungus to grow, it was for destruction of bacteria, not fungus. The first course of action was to apply diluted hydrogen peroxide to clean it out. The next was to apply tea tree oil. The next day, it had finally begun to scab over and heal. It healed completely after that.

Tea tree is an amazing healer when you feel a cold sore coming on. It dries it right up and it never gets worse, it only shrinks.

It's also good for staph infections on the skin. I noticed the first signs of a very bad sty on my eye. Being very careful not to get any of the oil in my eye (I doubt it would do harm but would sting terribly), I dabbed some on and by morning, the sty had completely disappeared.

Tea tree is amazing for insect bites and stops the itch from a mosquito bite right away. One time I had a bite and it was causing serious muscle pain, in the region of the bite, when I was doing massage. I applied it and it not only stopped the itch but also the muscle pain vanished. Somehow the bite had affected the muscle - never had that happen before!

Quotes by John Muir

2010-03-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

"No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself." - John Muir

Quotes by John Muir

I love Muir's quotes!

The economic health of our country?

2010-03-11T00:56:00.000-08:00

I wonder what it says about us when economists worry about the weather - not because how it affects us but how it keeps us from going out and spending money for holidays. The economic health of our country should be based on how people are cared for - health, work, food and sanitation. Instead, it's based on how much we spend for non-essentials, as if this means all our essential needs are met.

True happiness

2010-03-11T00:55:00.000-08:00

True happiness is not based on anything external, nor something we acquire through external means, nor belly laughs over jokes. These are substitutions to try to be happy because we aren't happy. The question comes, what is going on that blocks your true, inner happiness? Because if you base your happiness on what you have, it won't last because it has an opposite - the ability to not have it.

Truth is always true

2010-03-11T00:53:00.000-08:00

Truth is not relative and enters the relative world only in perception - it is always there but our vision of it was obscured. If something is true for one person, it's true for all people, otherwise it's not truth. We can attempt to create our own truth, but in reality, it's man made and created by the ego, which is false (non) thinking.

"Truth does not vacillate; it is always true." - A Course in Miracles, Text chapter 9

We Are The Ones We Are Waiting For

2010-03-11T00:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I bought the book, Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life. It sounded intriguing to me but I had no expectation that it would have any great impact. I was only able to read it for about an hour until a body numbing tiredness forced me to close my eyes and sleep.

I had dreams about some of the concepts all night. When I awakened in the morning, I got a hot drink to sip, then began reading again. The book, even though I've barely managed to get very far, gave me pause to think for long periods. It felt like an unraveling or shifting was taking place. My childhood ideas came to mind and I began wondering how I'd ever thought what I once did. Again, I was only able to read for about 90 minutes this time, then another body numbing tiredness overcame me. I slept for 2.5 more hours without realizing it!

During the sleep, I had a vivid dream watching a young generation of American children travel to what seemed to be China but where an Asian elder man was translating to children from both countries. He was explaining what the expectations of becoming enlightened were, and the way to do it. But a young blond headed girl interrupted, asking why it had to be that way. She questioned the need for any ritual or path and said her generation had it figured out. They were different than the past and didn't need conventions any longer. They had already realized who they were. I marveled at her, thinking, she has the guts to question him - a visitor to his country. She could be thrown out, ostracized, or cause such waves it could cause a rift between countries. But she took charge and they listened.

I was filling my tabbed links with videos that I've enjoyed and gotten inspiration from. I ran across this one that summed up what I witnessed in the dream.

It's time to realize and acknowledge.... you, I, we are the ones we are waiting for.

We Are The Ones We Are Waiting For

No Cheese "Cheesy" Sauce

2010-03-08T23:54:00.000-08:00

This is my version of a non-fat or low-fat cheese sauce.

1 c fat free milk or soy milk
1-2 Tbsp corn starch
1/2 c nutritional yeast (NOT brewer's yeast)
salt, pepper, onion powder & garlic salt to taste

Add a small amount of milk to the corn starch, blend. Add all the rest of the milk and ingredients, blending to avoid lumps. Bring to a simmer to thicken, stirring to avoid lumps.

This can be used to pour over veggies or for anything you'd use cheese sauce. Enjoy!

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

2010-03-08T22:59:00.000-08:00

If you have a dishwasher, you notice the dishwasher soap may seem pretty toxic. This is a good alternative that's much cheaper and eco-friendly.

Recipe:

Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
20 Mule Team Borax
Distilled White Vinegar (you can get this really cheap if you don't buy a brand name and buy it in larger quantities)

Here's what you do (read slowly because there are only two steps):

Step 1: Add one tablespoon of Super Washing Soda to the dishwasher dispenser
Step 2: Add one tablespoon of 20 Mule Team Borax to the dishwasher dispenser

You're done. That's the recipe for homemade dishwashing detergent. Now the recipe for removing the water spots that so frequently occur with automatic dishwashers:

Pour distilled white vinegar into the dispenser for the clear rinse gel.

While we're on the topic of dishwashing and dishwasher soap, the castille soap mentioned in these recipes is most well known as Dr. Bronner's. Here are some amusing videos about Dr. Bronner's castille soap.

Dr. Bronner's Soap as Toothpaste

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox

Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza - No Cheese

2010-03-08T22:31:00.000-08:00

How good could a pizza be with no cheese!? Well, this one is really great and much lower fat than regular pizza

Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza - No Cheese, But Still Tastes Wicked Good. - the arugula files

1/3 of this pizza has 9 gm of fat compared to 13 grams for 1/4 of a pizza this size. There are no trans fats in this pizza.

Wakame Seaweed Salad

2010-03-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

Wakame Seaweed Salad

This recipe, from the link above, can be modified - stevia or honey instead of sugar. A different (or no) oil. Wakame seaweed provides 15-30 mgs of Omega-3's, high levels of calcium, iodine, thiamine and niacin.

I love seaweed salad!

Low fat, low calorie meals on the fly

2010-03-08T17:22:00.000-08:00

Here are some low fat, low calorie meals I usually toss together on the fly.

Turkey-Veggie Crepe Wrap and Quaker Minis

Lean turkey, lots of no fat veggies (lettuce, green onion, radishes, cucumber, carrots, tomato), sun dried black olives (only 3), topped with fat free roasted sweet pepper and garlic dressing rolled up in a French crepe. The whole meal was less than 4 gm of fat and about 200 calories. I added half a dozen dill flavored Quaker Minis baked snacks, which was around 1 gm fat.

Rice Paper Wrap and Miso Soup

Poached chicken, fat drained off, or 4-5 boiled shrimp (no frying or breading), lettuce, carrots, sprouts, cucumber and some instant red miso soup (with tofu & seaweed - 1 gm fat for the cup). Toss together some Bragg's liquid aminos, finely chopped ginger and garlic, a touch of white vinegar and water for a no fat dressing. Bought some rice paper wraps to make my own at home. This was around 5 gm of fat with the chicken, about 2-3 gm fat with the shrimp.

Low fat vanilla yogurt, sprinkled in some cherry almond cluster cereal...what a great dessert! Even better if you can get it unsweetened - less calories.

Garlic "Cream" Sauce Shrimp over noodles

Made a scrumptious garlic "cream" sauce with shrimp over whole grain noodles - low fat version - no butter nor cream. A little olive oil, 1% milk, with some corn starch for thickening. I sprinkled just a touch of real parmessan cheese on top, enough to make it taste rich. Served it with a hearty green salad with low fat cilantro salad dressing. To round it out, we had a fabulous, inexpensive red wine from Spain that we got at Trader Joe's.

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Thin sliced lean turkey, cucumbers, onion, sprouts & fat free dressing, all wrapped in some nice, big green, luscious salad leaves. A cup of hot goat whey. Meal = < 200 calories and < 2 gm fat

Oven Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

Oven roasted chicken, on a wire rack, oven roasted potatoes with my homemade, flour-free fried chicken seasoning (added about 5 drops of oil per potato), and a nice tossed salad with fat free dressing.Chicken seasoning is 1 part hungarian paprika, 1 part salt. A touch of garlic and onion powder, a touch of sage. Shake it all to mix, then distribute equally on chicken and/or potatoes.

Fruit "Gelato"

Found my next best, no refined sugar, low fat thing to gelato that isn't frozen...pure pommegranate (or cherry) juice with some So Nice soy milk mixed. So Nice soy milk is available in Canada - not sure about elsewhere.

Powerhouse Drink

All the mineral salts are in this one. 1/2 banana frozen, 1/ 2 c berries (any), 4 oz. apple juice, 4 ounce coconut water, 1 Tbsp cow or goat whey powder, 1/2 c low fat yogurt (cow or goat). Blend til smooth.

AeroGarden

2010-03-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

Daniel bought me an AeroGarden for Christmas 2009. He was reluctant to get it and for a partly good reason. We're not so sure the cost will pay off. But it's a fun hobby and cool to see how fast my lettuce is growing.

I started my first garden on March 2, 2010. Right now I'm growing lettuce.
http://www.aerogrow.com

The device has a light that simulates sunlight. It's on 17 hours a day and on a timer so we don't have to think about it. It's automatically off from midnight to 7 AM. Because it's a hydroponic device and grows organic foods, herbs and flowers, it has circulating water with a pump. The pump sounds like a small aquarium hum all the time.

Taken at 4 days old - lettuce

Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It True?

2010-03-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

Vitamin D Prevents Cancer: Is It True?

I've been researching vitamin D supplementation - taking 1000 IU a day (not sure if that's enough) and came across this interesting and informative video - those of us in northern latitudes with less sunlight especially need to take note - but also the (lack of) ozone layer is interfering with vitamin D absorption for those in other latitudes.

The website says: In a new study, researchers at the UCSD School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center used a complex computer prediction model to determine that intake of vitamin D3 and calcium would prevent 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer annually in the US and Canada. The researchers' model also predicted that 75% of deaths from these cancers could be prevented with adequate intake of vitamin D3 and calcium. Join Carole Baggerly with GrassrootsHealth as she discusses this new research.

Super Size Me

2010-03-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

If you haven't seen Super Size Me, it's worth a watch! It's helped me keep my commitment to eating better.

Calorie free soft drink

2010-03-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

R.W. Knudsen Family® - Sparkling Essence

It's called Orchard's Essence here in Canada. Add 2 drops of liquid stevia if you want it sweet. (I was unable to find stevia anywhere in Europe) I had the lemon flavor.