The holidays are a great time to celebrate with friends and loved ones. They also arrive with their own unique stresses, pressures and mood swings. That’s why it’s good to practice your daily Healing Spectrums Self-Treatments.  Here is a quote from our friend Nancy who just completed my Level-1 Training (Self-Treatment) this weekend:

“After doing a session on Wednesday night, I got up early the next morning, feeling great, and had to start preparing everything for Thanksgiving guests.  Ordinarily I get very nervous, hyper and exhausted on Thanksgiving because it’s just so much work and I want everything to be just right for everyone. This time I felt really calm and enjoyed the whole process. I even finished everything early!  So this was really very different than usual.  My kids even commented on how calm and relaxed I was.  I’ll definitely be doing lots of self-treatments during the Christmas holidays.”  – Nancy G., Fairfield, Iowa

I hope you will take the opportunity to establish a habit of using the self-treatments regularly and even a little more during the holidays.  Whenever you feel yourself tensing up or even if you already feel stressed or in pain, just take a little quiet time to treat yourself and I’m sure you’ll notice the difference, as Donna from Cedar Rapids has:

“This is really great. I do lots of things like Qigong, Yoga, Pilates, and meditation and it takes at least 30 minutes but what I like about the Healing Spectrums self-treatment is that it only takes me 5-10 minutes and I feel benefits right away.  On Saturday morning I got up at 5:00 and treated myself.  I had been having some pain here and there and it was just gone after the session. Afterwards, I felt so energized that I got up and did some yoga and took a 6 mile run and still felt great energy the rest of the day. I really like this!”  – Donna Herring, Cedar Rapids, IA

I will soon be  offering my Level-1 Self-Treatment Training through a series of streaming workshops.  I look forward to seeing you there and hearing about your experiences!

I don’t gamble. As a general rule.

Except that looking back at my own history…I take quite a lot of chances with my life, my future and my heart.

I don’t really know if that’s a good thing. 

Sigh.

In my dialect, I am what my mom calls, “humok ug ilong” –> soft in the nose.

*wrinkles nose*

My success after this UK run made me want to play my holy priest a little more. As I’ve written before, my healer is basically my ticket into new content and he is the quickest of all my toons to pick up pug invites.

But he basically capped out at Naxx 25 level gear and hasn’t really seen anything beyond that. I haven’t even really been running dailys with him so his Emblem of Triump count is pretty low.

To fix this (even though as soon as I accummulate enough emblems the new patch will hit), I’ve been trying to run a few dailys a week with him.

Today’s daily was Utgarde Pinnacle. While harder than UK, it’s one I like and can usually get through fairly quickly.

Get in a group pretty quickly and start flying out to Howling Fjord. While on the bird, there is some talk about the server instances not working. One of the party members who is already out there apparently tries to go into one and claims that he cannot get in. Group disbands before I even land.

I go to the UP stone and there are tons of people around. I try out the instance entrance and it loads right up. Not sure if it was a temporary glitch or what, but I go back into LFG and almost immediately get into another party.

Group stands with 4 for a while–no surprise, can’t find a tank. Finally a druid joins group.

“Thanks guys. This is my first time.”

First time what?

“Tanking.”

Hmmm.

The practical side of me says: “FLEE NOW WHILE YOU STILL CAN!”

The empathetic side of me says: “Give him a chance.”

Somehow empathetic side wins.

The first few pulls are rough. Aggro is everywhere.

DK dps dies and I cringe a little inside. Is it me? Or him?

Even though I am fairly certain it is him, I say nothing and instead increase the amount of heals I’m throwing out.

First boss goes down pretty smoothly and when she is dead I realize I am saved.

So I either have to abandon this daily and the potential 2 emblems or continue on and hope we can clear it.

We continue on and are in the middle of a group when a patrol wanders by and immediately joins the fray.

It is chaos. Aggro is everywhere and it is a mess.

Total wipe.

Druid tank says maybe we should look for a new tank.

DK speaks up and says he can tank. Oh really? So this whole time you could tank and were just making us go through all this?

Unfortunately the DK tank is no better. Another wipe.

Now we are really screwed. No way are we going to find a tank to come into an instance in progress and help us finish it out.

Warlock (who started group and is doing very low DPS–obviously trying to gear up an alt) agrees to come in on his pally to finish it out.

Oh what a difference. The warlock-turned-pally had over 10K more HP than his predecessors. He’s holding aggro. People aren’t dying. I’m not frantically throwing out whatever heal is off cooldown.

A tip of the hat to everyone who plays a tank well. It’s not something I think I could do and a good tank makes everyone’s job so much easier. Love your tanks, people!

Skadi goes down like nothing. The rest of the run is so smooth.

Until we get to those damn mobs that fear.

One fear bomb and off I go running into a wall. Luckily I can still heal with my back to everyone else and without having to see my targets.

Then I realize I am stuck.

Somehow my priest is pinned between a column and a wall. OFFS.

“Bring all the mobs to this room and I will heal you” I joke.

The fastest way to get me out is to summon me. Unfortunately we had to swap out the warlock, so it’s a long trek back to the summoning stone to get me free.

At least King Ymiron was an easy one-shot and I got my emblems.

WTB hassle-free run.

We are now on the Twin Val’kyr.  You can find the Northrend Beasts here and Lord Jaraxxus here.

Twin Val’kyr

This fight confuses me most of the time, but I usually start off with the Dark Essence.  Of course, tehre are times when I start off with Light Essence.  It all depends on my assignment.  I do not change unless DBM- or a very knowledgeable raid leader- tells me to do so.  DBM will usually flash as a raid warning “Change Color.”  You will usually get this as a boss begins casting Dark Vortex or when you get hit with the Touch of Light or Touch of Darkness debuff.  These debuffs will hit random members and start ticking damage.  You can heal through them.  Just make sure you have that debuff programmed in Grid or Healbot so you can see it quickly.  Some groups would rather heal through it than have the DPS running off to click an essence.

I am either assigned raid heal or tank heal.  Either way, you have to stay mobile to avoid orbs.  I usually start off dark and then go stand by the light portal to wait for the switch.  And then, once the switch does happen, I run back to the dark portal (with the speed buff form the Body and Soul talent) using any instant cast I have at my disposal to keep the raid and tanks up.

As I said earlier, you have to dodge opposite color orbs.  I usually pop a renew and a PW:S on myself so I can concentrate on the others.  Don’t forget Binding Heal will help a lot here.  You may also find your self using your AoE heals quite a bit as the raid’s health starts ticking down immediately.

Of course, this all depends on which strategy you are using.  If you are all standing in the doorway to avoid all orbs, this fight can be very intense for healers.  I mean seriously intense!  We have done it successfully in my 10-man group only once.  That takes massive group heals during the vortex!  I like to save my Divine Hymn for then.  If by chance you have another priest, they can take the second and just pray there is not a third.

The best advice I can give for any fight is to remain Raid Aware. LOL.  Simple but true and very valuable here.  There are a lot of things to deal with in Trial of the Crusader.  Who knew Blizz would incorporate dodge ball into a boss fight?  Wait until we get to Anub’arak.  It’s like playing tag with a big scarab.  That final boss fight in Trial of the Crusader is up next.

Happy Raiding,

Exxy!

hawthorn!!!!….NOW THE SHIPPING IS FREE….!!!!

December tomorrow… Meaning that everything I’ve mentioned in my previous blog entry will come to effect. Apart from doing one or two online gaming sessions, pretty much nothing has happened. My toe is healing up, the roof still needs repainting, and things are finally starting to return to normal. Which is good to hear.

Since there’s not much for today, I’ll update tomorrow with an update on how the first day of December went- keep your eyes peeled

V1: There’s nothing left to say, tonight,

So close your eyes, and rest your head,

For when you wake, there’ll be daylight,

A new day comes, a new start now, now, this time, will be, right for sure,

Life is rough, this world is tough,

But that doesn’t mean, we can’t get, though this,

Chorus: So go ahead, now, forget your yesterdays,

Let the old, become new,

Let the past, guide you through,

In a world, that’s comin’ down, on you,

V2: Facing challenges, everywhere, living day by day,

Hoping tomorrow, will bring us joy, letting us, be happy,

Our sorrow is behind us, our future is among us,

Looking at us, we drive each other crazy,

Solo#1: I will be here, always for, you,

My heart is only seeking you, let our fights fade away,

Put our lips to rest, let our hearts heal,

Chorus: So go ahead, now, forget your yesterdays,

Let the old, become new,

Let the past, guide you through,

In a world, that’s comin’ down, on you,

(This song is not finished and is still in the writing stage)

Copyright: Angel Dejesus & Heather Hutchinson

(from http://www.piratemerch.com)

 In which Josh talks about HSF lectures, the HEAL project introduction and doing a cardiovascular exam in Doctoring Skills. Pirates may be involved.

I’m running out of witty intros, so let’s cut to the chase. 

Our first lecturer this week was Dr. Brayden, who gave us lectures in cardiology. He started his first lecture saying, “Let’s get to the heart of the matter.” He was immediately booed by the class. Jokingly, of course.

Dr. Lewis also returned to give more lectures on lymph nodes and the immune system, and Dr. Hendley came

The highlight of the lectures, however, has to be Dr. Szilva’s lecture on the autonomic nervous system. You may recall that in her first lecture, she transformed into her alter-ego, Anatomy Woman. This time, just as the lecture was supposed to start, she suddenly jumped out from behind the podiuim dressed as a pirate, complete with bandana, eyepatch and sword. (No parrot, though.)

“ARRR! ARE YE READY TO ATTACK THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM?”

You have not lived until you’ve heard your lecturer ask, “What are the major divisions of the ANS?” in a pirate voice. And as she talks about visceral nerves, she asks, “How does your body know you’ve been stabbed in the back?”

After a few minutes of this, she switched back to her normal voice and attire. “I can’t do this all day, or my voice will go. Also, it’s hard to see with this eyepatch.”

 ***

This week before our MSLG class started, Dr. Rosen gathered us all together to talk about the HEAL project we’ll be working on. At this point, we students were unclear as to what this project was. We knew vaguely that it would be a community health project of some sort, but that was about it.  

In theory, this lecture was supposed to make this project clearer. It didn’t quite work out that way. (I can write that because we’ve had a conversation with him after the fact, and he agreed with us and will improve it next year.)

The best part, however, was when Dr. Rosen encouraged us to make sure to welcome and talk to the social worker students we’d be partnering with. He then started down this conversational line: ”Think of it this way: How do you know when someone is interested in you?” he asks. “They ask you questions. So…”

And at this point, the class lost it and broke out into laughter. To his credit, he somehow got control of the class. 

Some people (not me) found that part of the lecture a tad demeaning, but apparently in years past, the med students haven’t been great about socializing with the students that have come in.

***

Doctoring Skills is definitely making us more like doctors. This week we learned how to use our stethoscopes to listen to hearts and give a cardiovascular exam. Hearing the two main heart sounds/thumps (S1 and S2) is awesome.

We listen to four areas in the heart for murmurs. The pneumonic doctors often use for areas of the heart they listen to is “Apt. M”: Aortic valve, Pulmonary valve, Tricuspid valve and Mitral valve. We also listen to the carotid arteries in the neck, we measure the radial pulse in the arm, and we also examine the dorsalis pedis pulse in the foot.

As for blood pressure, we learn how to use the blood pressure cuff to take measurements, but we don’t spend as much time on it. The rationale is that’s something the nurses will do more often than not. I’d still like to go back and perfect my measuring skills.

After this session, I definitely am more useful as a medical professional.

Josh Pothen (UVM’s Meager Med Student)

Donate $1 to The Meager Med Student!

That’s not a good thought to have when you pug a group as a healer and everyone is ready to go.

My poor priest has not gotten much love since the newest patch came out. Before, he was my go-to guy for seeing new content.

As I mentioned before, he was basically my ticket into pugging raids. Everyone needs a healer, so I focused on him and got him into many instances and raids.

As soon as I got comfortable, though, I kind of abandoned him for my DPS shaman. DPS meant I had to deal with recount meters and everyone comparing e-peens, but at least I took some of the pressure off myself in worrying about keeping everyone alive.

Most of my guild was gone for the holiday, so it was pretty quiet in-game. I decided to dust off my priest and take him for a spin.

The heroic daily was Utgarde Keep. Easy peasy, I could heal UK in my sleep.

I put myself in LFG and almost immediately get an invite. Even better, the group is already full, so I don’t have to sit around waiting for them to pick up a tank.

(If I ever muster up more courage, I might one day roll a tank. Those things are harder to find than healers sometimes.)

For some reason, as I’m on the bird from Dalaran to Howling Fjord, I start psyching myself out on whether or not I can still heal.

As a healer, the hardest raid I’ve healed is Naxx 25. He’s never healed Ulduar or Ony or TotC, all content that my shaman has DPS’ed.

But still – it’s UK! C’mon. Unless I’ve somehow grouped with the worst tank and face-pulling-DPS ever then this should be a cake walk. 

I start reviewing my spells on the flight.

Nothing looks right.

Shadow Word: Pain? Mind Flay? WTH is this stuff?

Fail.

Apparently the last time I played I was in my shadow build. That might make healing a bit more difficult.

I land and switch out builds real fast. I get to the instance as the last person is being summoned in.

We buff and the tank gets into position.

Then I get the thought?

“I think I forgot how to heal”.

Where is this thought coming from? This is ridiculous.

Besides, there is no more time. The tank has started pulling.

I start off as I always do and fling a Prayer of Mending at the tank.

And thankfully it all starts coming back to me.

Renew. Flash Heal. Circle of Healing.

The spells that I had blanked on were now being cast as the situation called. On each stupid little trash pull I felt my confidence rise.

Then we got to the room with all of the proto-drakes.

I have to backtrack a bit and mention that the pug I was in wasn’t a bad one. The tank was doing a good job on aggro, both in keeping it on himself and getting it back. The DK wasn’t trying to offtank or anything crazy. The feral druid was pulling the best DPS, the warlock the lowest but no problems either way.

So I was a bit surprised when we pulled virtually the entire room.

Normally when I’ve done this room we’ve only pulled one group at a time. Sometimes we’ll get a second group if someone is not watching their placement.

But, all of a sudden, I was in a sea of proto-drakes and Vrykul.

Aaaaargh! We are going to wipe.

Oh well, might as well take out as many as we can.

I was throwing all my instant heals out. Shields. Guardian Spirit, don’t fail me now.

Heal, heal, heal.

And then, somehow, we were standing on a pile of proto-drake corpses.

We had all made it out alive.

I would totally like to take credit, but I know that everyone helped to get us out. The lock might have had the lowest DPS, but I’m sure the Fel Healthstone he gave out at the beginning of the run helped as well.

Thankfully the rest of the run was much smoother.

But what do you know? I guess I did remember to heal after all.

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Here are Ways #s 4 and 5 from the last post which promised you 5 Ways to Be More Great-full (Boost Your Gratitude Attitude)…

#4: FAMILY (or couple’s) GRATITUDE BOOK
We just spent a very pleasant hour doing this great art & writing interactive project. So simple and yet so meaningful and fun! Quality family time!

We do not watch television, nor do our children. We are dedicated to parenting consciously and strive to support a vibration of love in our household. Yet, given that my husband and I are both entrepreneurs, with seven businesses between the two of us, and given that our children are still quite young, we know how important and sometimes challenging it can be to come up ideas (not to mention time, energy and materials) for positive family experiences.

I myself am about the least craftsy person you will ever meet and can draw a stick figure on a good day! So believe me when I tell you: Yes, you CAN do this project, and probably with what’s already available in your home. It really ranks high on simple, high on fun, high on memorable, and low on expense. (I can NEVER do those Origami things, puuleeeeeazzze, can we talk?)

Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to do this Family Gratitude Book…but of course so is any day that ends in “y.” Monday, Tuesday…. Enjoy!

Materials:

All you need is:

Some blank paper (we used printer or copy paper, white)

Construction paper

Ribbon or brass brads to secure the book

Markers, pencils, hole punch and/or scissors

Optional: Stickers, stamps, other art supplies, scrapbook, photos

Definitely: A little bit of time and lots of love!

We started by making a brainstormed list of everything we are grateful for. You can do this any way you like; follow your own creative impulses & inspiration. We have four family members, so I decided to color code what we wrote on this collective page or you could just all write and draw without attributing who said/drew what, or make a chart, have sections of the page, etc. The things my 6-year-old called out first were written in yellow, my 10-year-old chose blue, I picked purple and my husband green. We made a color key on the page and wrote and drew various things we are thankful for: Our dog came first, followed by a lovely torrent such as family and friends, food, a good home, music, the Earth, music, health, God, life and so on.

Then I gave each family member a separate page on which to do whatever they like, the only requirement being that whatever is on the page relates to or represents what they are thankful for. We stuck in some more blank pages, so we can add more later as we are inspired.

The kids each got to pick a color for the front and back covers. The older did the words, the younger did the drawings. We punched holes, added brads, all signed the masterpiece and voila! A Family Gratitude Book.

Not only a wonderful way to spend part of our Thanksgiving Day, but a precious keepsake, and, I trust, a new family tradition as well. We will be sharing this book with family all weekend long and inviting them to add to it as well. And of course, it can be done any day! Every day bears its own gifts if we just open the package.

Today we focused mainly on what we are thankful for in our current lives (now), but we could also include wonderful memories (past) and gratitude for all the blessings on the way! (future)

Alternative for Couples: You can also do this as a Couple’s Gratitude Book or Journal, a beautiful way to show appreciation and deepen connection. So few marriages last or are happy, as we all know, and I am blessed to have a deliriously, deLIGHTfully ecstatic marriage, 12 years strong and better every day. One of the reasons is of course, the selection of the right mate; but in order to do so, we had to do the necessary self-healing and inner preparation to bring whole, healthy individuals to the relationship. Much of this work is presented in my book: The Radical Self-Love Workbook. But it is also essential to nurture even the best of relationships, and my husband and I do so daily in many creative ways such as this.

More tips on love and relationships are at

www.LoveandSpirit.org

and at my love blog: loveandspiritblog.wordpress.com.

Whether you do the Gratitude Book as a homemade book like we did today, like a scrapbook or journal, and whether you do it as a family activity or a couple’s relationship-enhancer, it will help you see your life through the eyes of love and gratitude, and bring you even closer with those you love. Enjoy! And I welcome you to send me a comment or email to share your experience.

#5: Honor the 4 Directions and 4 Sacred Elements:

Earth, Air, Fire, Water

You do not have to be Native American to appreciate one of their traditions, which is to honor the Medicine Wheel, facing each of the four directions, thanking each one for their gifts. This is also a tradition in all indigenous cultures including pre-Christian Europe (a.k.a. Wicca, Druidry, paganism, et al.), Africa, Australia, Hawaii and South America.

In fact, if you scratch the surface beneath contemporary religions on any part of the Earth, you will find an ancient shamanic tradition that honors all the directions and all of nature as sacred.

All things follow this cycle of birth, growth, fruition and quietude, whether we are looking at seasons, a lifespan, a day, or a garden. The beauty of Medicine Wheel ceremony and the paradigm itself is that it can be applied to our lives in so many ways.

So how do you honor the directions and elements, to give thanks for what they give to us so generously? Here are a few ideas:

* Altar: Create an altar to each direction or a Medicine Wheel altar encompassing all the directions/elements. This can be in your home or outside. My husband specializes in creating Medicine Wheels as a sacred practice on the land, and has helped others to do this as well.

* Cherokee Dance of Life – You would need to learn this in person from someone who has learned it, oral tradition. This is an incredible moving meditation to all 4 directions, peoples, and elements which also honors Mother Earth and Father Sky, balances their energies as sacred partners in our hearts, and helps us give away the gifts of Spirit that are our special medicine to share with the world through our right work and service. Occasionally my husband and I share this Dance with our community. If you live near Sacramento, and would like to experience this dance, let us know so we can invite you. Or perhaps Spirit will guide you to another teacher of this beautiful tradition.

* Drum, chant, play flute to each direction

* Give offerings such as cornmeal, tobacco or sage smoke to each direction

* Speak aloud from your heart to each direction and give thanks

* Sweat lodge

* Vision quest

If you do either sweat lodge or vision quest, please do so with the guidance of a Native elder to be sure you do it properly and safely.

* Journal or journey (shamanic meditation) to discover what power animals comprise your personal Medicine Wheel of your own energy field. I love to lead these meditations when I am called to do so. Honoring your own inner Medicine Wheel supports a strong aura and keeps you connected to your spirit guides, if this resonates for you.

Associations with Each Direction

Depending on which culture or even which tribe you consult, there are somewhat different associations with the directions, colors, elements and meanings, the medicine or power that direction helps us receive and embody. The one I am most familiar with follows but this is not dogma, merely a summary of what I have found to be the more universal associations. Follow your own heart and work with any spiritual practice in the way that resonates for your own heart and inner truth.

While I have a small amount of native blood, I was adopted and was not raised in that tradition. I discovered shamanism after my initiation and spiritual awakening 15 years ago. I do not claim to be a tribal elder or teacher of any one tradition. I am an interfaith minister, meditation teacher, hypnotherapist, energy healer and intuitive life coach. I have been on the path of Spirit, studying, practicing and sharing healing and wisdom teachings from many cultures for several decades, so I offer here a simplified summary as a starting point for your discovery journey. You would do well to study more in depth with a local teacher steeped in the particular tradition that calls to your spirit, and of course feel free to research further on the Web, in books, classes, and listen to your own inner guidance. I always say the best way to pray, do ceremony or ritual is the way that feels best to you, with harm to none, of course. But we do need to honor the specific traditions so they are not all diluted through multiculturalism.

From the East we have the yellow people (Asia) and the gift of Air, Brother Wind, clarity of vision, inspiration, the new day, new beginnings, establishment of purpose and intention, and springtime.

From South, we receive the wisdom of the black people (Africa), Fire. The tools, strength, perseverance and energy to follow through and manifest, midday/ noon, summer, also humor and passion, innocence and trust.

The West gives us the culture of the Red people (such as Native Americans), the setting sun, Water, emotions, the fall season, self-evaluation toward completion, looks-within time, peace, rest and healing.

And the North represents the White (European) people and all their cultural gift. The sacred mountain, winter, midnight, time to slow down, go within and be still to receive guidance for what comes next. Completion, what you keep from the past cycle and all that you have accomplished and learned. It is also associated with the Spirit and wisdom.

Note: You can also honor the other 3 directions: Earth (below), Sky (above) and Center (within).

I hope you enjoyed these five creative ways to give thanks and I wish you abundant blessings on your journey!

Finally, in the spirit of Sufi mystic poet Rumi, I invite you to kiss the ground. Blow kisses to the sky. Bow to everything. Everything is sacred.

With Love,

Sage

More resources for your path, including free special reports on abundance, love, transformational classes, soul and energy healing sessions, intuitive readings, matchmaking and more are at:

www.LoveandSpirit.org

Taylor@LoveandSpirit.org

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

- Rumi

Happy Thanksgiving!

“The eye, altering, alters all.” – William Blake

I recently saw the movie Up with my family and we were touched by the sweet message that it is the most simple moments that have the most meaning for us. I call those moments, like when Russell sits on the curb counting red and blue cars with his dad and then with his new (grand)father figure at the end of the movie, the “pearls on life’s necklace.” Individually, they are precious and delicate, yet strung one after another, they form a true treasure.

In an earlier post, I shared several reasons why it is so essential to enhance our gratitude attitude. So now, as promised, here are some fun, practical ideas for how to become even more grateful (great full), how to count more of those pearls and value them with your heart, while they are in your hands:

1. My Feet Touch the Earth.

A Native American custom is to give thanks to Mother Earth each morning upon rising, when your feet first touch the floor or ground. This helps us remember that the land we live upon is alive and sacred, worthy of our deepest respect and greatest appreciation. It also helps you receive her bounty, through food, health, abundance and every good thing you can touch or experience through your senses, and to feel more grounded and “in your body.” Another thing I love about this practice is it takes zero extra time; it’s just a shift in consciousness, and isn’t that what we are most striving for?

2. Write a (different kind of) Thank-You Letter.

Well, you already know about the traditional thank-you-for-the-gift kind of letter. I believe it’s on the Endangered Species List. (When’s the last time to sent or received one of those?) I highly recommend we resuscitate these as they bring and spread so much joy, especially the kind of letters, cards and notes you can actually…what’s that called?….Oh, yeah, TOUCH with your actual hands and reread over and over without having to go online. What a concept!

In addition to writing to give thanks for specific gifts or favors you have received, I propose you explore writing Thank-You Letters to:

* Your loved ones…just because

* Yourself

* God/The Universe

* Your Body

* Money

* Your Ancestors

* The Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Sun, Moon, Stars…

You see, the possibilities are as infinite as your abundantly grateful heart.

3. Take a Gratitude Walk.

Dedicate a walk to the awareness of thankfulness. This is a walking meditation and is best done in silence or punctuated only with your statements of appreciation or a simple mantra such as:

* Thank you, God, for all that is.

* Right here, right now, beauty all around me.

* I give thanks.

* I am thankful.

Your gratitude mantra can also just run in your mind without being spoken aloud. You can rhythmically coordinate the mantra to your steps, or not; follow your own guidance and what your body tells you to do.

Another option is to think or praise something with each step or everytime you notice something you are thankful for, such as: “Thank you for my feet that I may walk. Thank you for these trees I see…. Thank you for the air I breathe. Thank you for my children (husband, wife, etc..). Thank you for my home. Thank you for my dog. Thank you for my car. Thank you for my work. Thank you for music….”

While you are walking, you may give thanks for gifts from Spirit which you can see and hear and touch in the present moment, or other blessings in your life, counting your pearls, but the key is to keep every step, every breath, every moment focused on hearful, mindful appreciation.

This is an excellent exercise which combines nourishing your body through the movement itself with nourishing your mind, heart and soul by returning your awareness to what is precious and good, all around you and within you.

As a meditation teacher for the past 11 years, I have frequently met beginning students who lament, “I can’t meditate because I can’t sit still so long. My body hurts and gets fidgety.” Some meditation disciplines and teachers simply reply to this: “Just sit. Let the distraction of the mind chatter and body aches just fade away and just sit anyway. They are all illusions, and your mind will eventually clear as you ignore the ‘monkey mind.’”

This is true for some people, some of the time, as with so much wisdom. However, some people really do need to move more often. This can be due a medical condition, a tendency toward being highly kinesthetic, and/or a need to move energy and remember they have a body through touch and motion.

I am solidly in the latter category myself and find that I benefit optimally from a kaleidoscopic, multicultural meditation practice, drawn from Eastern and Western traditions – like the Meditation for Busy People course I designed for and taught at Kaiser Permanente. Sometimes still, some moving, sometimes silent, others with chanting or music or sacred sounds, sometimes focusing on the heart, third eye, or other chakra, other times aware of the whole body and energy field, sometimes open-eyed (gazing meditation is called “tratakam” in India), sometimes closed, focused on the inner space. Let me know if you would like to me to share more of my knowledge of meditation in this blog column. I teach many methods in my workshops, teleseminars and private practice and share them also on my meditation audios.

For whatever reason, if you do not enjoy an extended sitting meditation practice, you will likely give up on it, so I highly recommend exploring moving meditation such as Tai Chi, Chi Gun, Native American Dance of Life (Dance to the 4 Directions) and even some dynamic forms of yoga, or simply authentic body movement and dance as a meditation. Walking meditations like this gratitude walk is another wonderful way to integrate Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit, so give yourself permission to move while you meditate, and give yourself credit for “meditating” if you are moving consciously and feeling a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefit.

Anything you do that brings your awareness to the present moment, that cultivates mindfulness and what I call heartfulness, is a form of meditation, be it walking, stretching, drinking a cup of tea, even cooking or cleaning.

As Buddhist monk and teacher Thich Nat Hanh says, whatever you are doing, even if you are washing dishes, it is the most important thing in the world.And it can be done joyfully and gratefully. Absolutely anything and everything is a meditation when done with focus and appreciation. Right here. Right now. Love.

So I invite you to join me in striving to live Life as The Grand Meditation. The Prayer of Thankfulness that Never Ends. The moment of choice, the moment of change, the moment of power, healing and grace, is now.

∞

As for me, time to go practice gratitude with my family. Right here. Right now. We are about to create a Family Gratitude Book! I’ll let you know how it turns out, and I suspect that may become Gratitude Tip #4.

Your life can change in a moment’s notice.

And the moments you notice can change your entire life.

So, my friends, have a beautiful day…and another…and another…Keep adding to, and treasuring those precious gifts of moments of simple pleasure, in oneness, and in the company of loved ones, the pearls on your necklace of life.

With Love, Sage

P.S. Please share in comments:

What part of this article did you most resonate with?

What are your favorite ways to deepen your gratitude attitude?

And what are you most thankful for this season?

(what are some of your precious pearls)

Just click on the article title to add a comment if the box is not visible below. Thanks for visiting!

www.LoveandSpirit.org

as long as you’ve got your health…
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Estimating the Risk of Food Stamp Use and Impoverishment During Childhood
Between the ages of 1 to 20 years, nearly half (49.2%) of all American children will, at some point, reside in a household that receives food stamps. Households in need of the program use it for relatively short periods but are also likely to return to the program at several points during the childhood years. Race, parental education, and head of household’s marital status exert a strong influence on the proportion of children residing in a food stamp household.

The best way to give thanks is by giving of your time to help another human being.

Happy Thanksgiving

Coconut oil is my favourite oil to use on it’s own.

Why?    It absorbs very easily and doesn’t leave a greasy feeling like other vegetable or carrier oils.

How does it absorb so easily?       Because it has a small molecular structure and therefore can easily absorb into the skin within a fews minutes.

Why should you use coconut oil?    Coconut oil has many benefits to the skin. It is also recommended for it’s nutritional benefits as well.

What does coconut oil do for the skin?   It is very nourishing leaving your skin feeling soft and silky, I recommend it for dry, cracked or sensitve skin condition’s.

Coconut oil can be used for wound healing, acne, insect bites, stretch marks, eczema, and it also protects the skin from the sun. I recommend it for sunburn as it has a cooling effect on the skin.

I love using this oil in the winter as my skin tends to be dryer.

Pet Care- Skin allergy related condition’s in dogs is very common,  Coconut oil is excellent to add to your dogfood to help with symptoms for example dry itchy skin.

By adding essential oils, this will potenise the action and have a very beneficial product for many different conditions.
to view my products got to

www.aromatiqueessentials.com.au

I’m not a writer and I won’t pretend to be. The idea here is just to journal my walk with God. I don’t know where it will take me or you, but I do invite you to come along for the journey.

I’ve got my food and drink and I’m ready to continue on … my morning cup of coffee and the Word. It’s my heart’s desire to meet with God every morning. It’s my special time when I dive into His Word and see what He might want to say to me.

This morning I was reading in Isaiah … “Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near.’ Says the Lord ‘ and I will heal him.”

What is it He wants to heal us of … the brokenness in our hearts … our failing bodies … the stubbornness we all walk around with at times … the list could go on and on. I want to see what it is in me that God wants to bring peace to and heal. My journey goes on …

Cold wintery night,
She has to put up with this urging fight.
Built up walls made of pure steel,
Tries to take hold,
And let herself heal.
Loosing all control,
She might not reach her lasting goal.
Slipping back into the depths of her mind,
She needs to find peace of any kind.
She wants release,
Anything to put her at ease.
Her walls begin to crumble,
Her world begins to fall, and tumble.

I’m afraid you turned into someone that does not care about anything anymore. I think you are too hurt and to shattered to adopt a new meaning in your life, a healthy perspective someone might say.

I believe they have poisoned you. ‘Cause you were tender and you intitially blocked everyone out. So you were just having fun. But you occasionally opened up to some people and they kind of treated you badly.

So there you are. If you were the biggest religious figure you’d be already dead. But you don’t even have a religion. Or come to think of it you might have but it would be genuinely unconventional and odd for most people.

Well… I notice you are wandering in the ground looking for a familiar face to talk to. Small chat, nothing important. You are somehow calm in your own way. ‘Cause you are uptight at the same time. But I think you are sad. And most imporant of all, I think you are broken inside. And it is practically impossible to heal now.

Hell, why didn’t you leave? Why don’t you leave? I could never understand. How can you afford living in this lousy city when you belong elsewhere.

I hate to think that you are sad. That they hurt you so bad that you have lost your beautiful inner self. Instead you have found alcohol and substances to ease your troubled mind.

Wish you could be you again…

November 22, 2009 By Kevin Morrow 6:57 Am

Before I talk about the subject at I hand, I have to post a link to “Man in the Mirror” by Micheal Jackson.

Listen to the lyrics of this song and you will realize how it relates to this post.

Forgiveness is something that heals all fears. Consider what happens when you make a mistake as a child and your parents forgive you, did you not feel better? Did you not learn from the situation?

Consider this, perhaps our minds have created a misconception of love. Love should not rise the distortion of hate, unless real love is not being accepted.

If I think I love my car then of course I will hate it if it is taken away, but I must look deeper at the situation. The car will eventually cease to exist, as will your body and all material things, so where is the love placed.

Perhaps the spirit is the eternal flame that is love. Love in it truest form cannot be anything else. Therefore anything else is not love.

If the mind is ill and in pain it is not in love. So the way to heal the mind is to forgive it for believing in illusion. Just like the only way to realize there is no Santa is to come to truth. As far as little kids are concerned.

I’ll give you an example of where forgiveness heals the mind.

Say I’m on the 91 freeway in sunny southern California and a motorist decides to cut me off, or doesn’t see me or whatever the case may be. I can look at this event from one solid foundation.

I believe that there is only perfect love, and anything else is a calling out for love. If I were completely absorbed in love someone would not be able to cut me off, because I wouldn’t be aware of something like that.

If I am aware and this happens to me I can see it in two ways. An opportunity for me to heal my mind, or an opportunity to express a lack of love has arisen.

If I come from the point of view of lack of love or fear, I will think the person did it do me on purpose, that the person is wrong, and that I have just become a victim. The victim mindset gets me nowhere. The rest of the day I can be brooding in illusion of pain that wasn’t really there. I know this to be possible because I have done it plenty of times. I have also accidentally cut people off and witnessed their reactions towards me.

Being on both ends of the stick I realized what was going on here. I am only in control of my reactions. Now if I decide to heal my mind, I would say to myself that I forgive that person for what they don’t know, and I forgive myself for believing in something that doesn’t matter.

Now, ponder on this, internalize it, this WILL heal your mind. It will disintegrated the spider web foundation of illusion.

Listen to the “Man in the Mirror” song one more time before you leave this post.