Posted on

cities and a sky

City people often want more of nature in their daily lives – trees, valleys, a sea, hills, a mountain, sand, a river, fields, stars (which are often hidden from view by bright city lights). This longing for nature seems natural. Some city people get away “to the country” whenever they can. Others can’t. There are trees in the parks of cities, and beautiful flowers planted in the middle of wide streets. A small piece of nature shared by many.

It’s with this in mind that a sudden realization came my way – the sky is always there and can keep us from longing for what we don’t have at the moment. If we would keep our eyes on the vastness above as we walk, we’d have what’s needed on a daily basis. When we’re in the city the sky has the ability to pull us away from the concrete surrounding us. All we need do is look into the distance and keep our eyes straight ahead, and there we are connected to nature until we’re able to go “to the country” and be with as much nature as our hearts desire. I do that, and it feels good.

Posted on

Baby #2

I have been meaning to write for some time in this blog but life and other petty stuff has gotten in the way like it tends to do when you have something well intended planned. Michael and I are expecting our second baby this coming September. It is truly a blessing to welcome a child into this world.  Especially as we raise our son, Sebastian, and celebrate his milestones. We know what to expect and what to look forward to with our next beloved child. With that being said…

I had no idea how different each pregnancy could be. I mean I knew it could be different but this is nuts. Let’s put it this way, with Sebastian I was basically on a “happy” drug for the whole pregnancy. This one has been totally different. I have had morning sickness, I have been sick in general, I had acid reflux, insomnia, major food aversions and I can only manage to eat small portions — I mean tiny portions at each sitting. Oh, I am grumpier too… bless Michael for putting up with me.

The funny thing about the differences are that everyone thinks I am now having a girl because of them. I am kind of in agreeance with them but I am not convinced it is because of the type of pregnancy.

This time to just be different we have chosen to wait until the baby is born to find out the sex. I think it’s because we want to have the surprise but also because we don’t care what the sex is as long as the baby is healthy.

We will find out in September! I am now in my 15th week and have a OB appt. tomorrow morning so I will have to report more next time!

Posted on

mini-trampoline

Have you tried a mini-trampoline lately? Once upon a time, I bought Emi one for Christmas. There was no space in her mini-Manhattan apartment for a mini-trampoline, so she brought it to the place where she was working. And everyone began using it. And enjoying it. And when it was time for Emi to leave, well, how could she take that trampoline with her?

I decided after reading an article by Jennifer Derryberry Mann called Jump for Joy, in the May-June 2007 Spirituality & Health magazine, that I want one, too. She wrote that “bouncing lifts your spirits, elevates your heart rate, boosts your lymphatic system, is easy on your joints, leaves you feeling wonderfully grounded, and can be done anywhere, no matter how small the room.” (I’m not so sure about that point.) She told the story of Betsy Robinson who is managing editor of S&H who was a six days a week aerobics junkie for about ten years until two hand surgeries ended it. “Betsy jumps 14 minutes a day – the amount of time it takes to play tracks 6 through 12 on her favorite mini-trampolining sound track, Gabrielle Roth’s Tribe CD. In that amount of time, she gets cardiovascular benefits similar to those she’d get if she spent her time on a treadmill.” She also says that her “nails grow really fast and hard, her skin glows more, and gone is the hand-swelling that neither Western medicine nor acupuncture could alleviate.” She says also in the article, “For instance, if Betsy’s mad about something, she jumps really hard and the sheer joy of the expression transforms the energy into just that – intense energy without a story.” Now that sounds nice!

I’m thinking that besides the known benefits of using a trampoline, added benefits can be different for everyone depending on what’s going on in one’s body. I’m just beginning to research where to buy a good mini-trampoline. The benefits, plus the fun, sound wonderful. Would you like to just bounce, bounce, bounce, and bounce some more?

“Jennifer Derryberry Mann is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer, editor, and yoga teacher who likes to bounce on a big purple exercise ball in her living room. She has recently written for Pregnancy and FitPregnancy, and she is the former editor of Science & Spirit magazine.”

www.SpiritualityHealth.com

Posted on

detoxifying

Detoxifying is powerful stuff. And finally mainstream magazines are saying so, too. They’re singing its praises, writing about all the benefits derived from a total body cleanse. Have you tried it? Someone who hasn’t given it much thought, and now is considering it, is in for a wonderful surprise. There’s no way to know until you’ve tried it. Recently I’ve subscribed to two newsletters in the health field, and every so often check out health websites, and they’re tooting the benefits of detoxifying – ridding the body of accumulated toxins, including heavy metal, and parasites, in the colon, liver/gallbladder, kidney/bladder.

It’s necessary to spend time researching about detoxifying to understand the process, and to not rush into it. Collect information perhaps from informative employees at a good local health food store, the library, bookstore, the internet, to understand the benefits and get comfortable with the information.

www.treeoflife.nu
www.sivananda.org/ny
www.optimumhealth.org
www.AbeBooks.com

Posted on

imagine

One morning I logged on to my laptop, and noticed a piece on aol about the most dangerous cities in the US. It wasn’t pretty. Many of the photos were of police capturing troublemakers, all in terribly run-down sections of towns. After that I got to thinking about the word quality, and the fact that it doesn’t seem to exist in many movies flooding the big screen lately. Dark, full of violence and destruction, gruesome murders, suck your energy and leave you feeling drained, scare for scare’s sake, kind of movies are rolling out of Hollywood more than ever. Why? Is it easy money? If those producers would, with the same kind of publicity and enthusiasm, put their attention on feeding the mind, spirt and emotions instead of feeding anger, aggression, and violence, what a difference it would make in the lives of people. It’s the same with video games. It’s been said that we use 5% of our brain power – some manage to use a little more. Not impressive. That number would be laughable in any other area of life. We can up the ante in many ways, but I don’t think those dark, violent, aggressive, change the chemical balance of the body kind of movies are going to do it for us. Imagine how different it could all be. www.spiritualcinemacircle.com

Posted on

a neti pot

A few years ago Sumi gave me a gift of a Neti Pot. To be truthful, I winced when I got it. And every so often Sumi would ask whether I was using it or not. Or not was the answer. Sumi studied yoga at Himalaya Institute once upon a time and learned how to use Neti. Now she’s dedicated. I, however, have a different relationship with Neti. The water tends to dribble down the length of my arm, or chin. Water, a little pot and salt – it doesn’t get simpler than that. Right?

A few months ago I was in Garland of Letters on South Street in Phila looking for a CD for someone when out jumped THE NETI POT FOR BETTER HEALTH book by Warren Jefferson. I really didn’t want to get a book on Neti, but felt I had to step up to the plate. So I ended up with that thin Neti book and no CD. And there it sat on my bookshelf. Then Michael, another dedicated Neti user, called and, in the course of the conversation, said that Alicia had a sinus inflammation, was leaving for California on a business trip, and whatever she was doing wasn’t working, so she resorted to Neti with great success. I was happy for Alicia. I couldn’t help wonder though how it is that they’re all pros at using Neti.

In his Neti book Warren Jefferson writes that he’s been using Neti for a few years, that his mother was a smoker, that he grew up with second-hand smoke, and he himself smoked for ten years. Because of this he’d been having respiratory problems (asthma, stuffy nose, and hay fever). He wrote that as he continues using Neti these problems are greatly reduced. He writes that Neti has a long history in the East and with all the toxins, and now chemical pollution worldwide, it makes perfect sense to use saline nasal irrigation to detoxify. I’ll list a few of the benefits from his thin Neti book:

removal of debris from the nose
relief of hay fever, runny nose and itchy eyes
increase general health of respiratory system
drains sinuses
creates proper conditions for the nose to do its work
improves sense of smell
helps treat certain ear infections
cools and soothes
using the Neti has a spiritual aspect

This thin Neti book answers many concerns, e.g. Sinusitis, Nose Blowing and Sinusitis, Swollen Inferior Turbinate, Bacterial Resistance, Hay Fever, Nasal Polyps, and at the end of the book he discusses Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, and he offers a list of resources: Neti Pot, Salt & Nasal Wash Sources, Medical Resources, and Other Useful Sources. It’s not just about Neti.

I like simple, so I’ll relate one thing from the this Neti book: “Swedish scientists discovered that “humming increases ventilation of the sinuses.” It was found that “humming sped up the exchange of air between the sinuses and nasal cavity. This may be one of the benefits of chanting Om.”

Tomorrow is another day. I’ll be with my Neti Pot, water and salt practicing so that I can do it like them. And you know who them are. If not, Neti and I will have to find our way to EastWest where there’s a Neti Pot demonstration Mondays – Fridays, Free in the Cafe! I see I’m not the only one who needs help. www.eastwestnyc.com

See you there?

Thank you for Neti, Sumi. I’m trying

www.himalayaninstitute.org/Netipot/NetiPotGateway.aspx
www.oprah.com/health/oz/oz_20070426_350_106.jhtml

Posted on

john perkins, psychonavigation

Last November 2007 I bought a book at Robin’s Bookstore, the oldest independent bookstore in Philadelphia. Something coerced me into picking it up and perusing it. I had another book in hand, but found myself purchasing and walking out with THE WORLD IS AS YOU DREAM IT Teachings from the Amazon and Andes, by New York Times bestselling author of CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HIT MAN, John Perkins. I cried as I read many of the passages, and cried even more when I read the Epilogue. If you were to read this book I think you would understand.

In an interview On Spiritual Travel, Shamanism, and Consciousness, with Dennis Hughes, Share Guide Publisher, is written: “John Perkins spent three years in the Peace Corps in Ecuador and then became a consultant to the United Nations and World Bank, then a businessman in my own right. . . .” The interviewer asked him to give a definition of shamanism, he said his favorite short definition is:

“A shaman is a man or woman who journeys to other worlds in order to obtain power, wisdom and energy from those worlds to affect change in this world. When we talk about other worlds, we can use terms like the unconscious or the subconscious – there are a lot of different terms that can be used.”

At the end of the interview he said:

“The shamans like to tell us that Mother Earth isn’t in danger, this idea of needing to save the planet is ridiculous. That human beings aren’t going to destroy the planet. But the planet may just shake us all off like a bunch of fleas. She’s giving us a lot of warnings right now. El Nino as a message is a great gift. Climate change, the fires that have swept through the Indonesian rainforest, the drought which for the first time ever has hit the Amazon, are all amazing warnings. Receding glaciers. . . and so she’s giving us a message and this is a very exciting time for human beings to live in and to react. Because we don’t want to be shaken off. Yet it really doesn’t matter a whole lot if we do get shaken off, for we know that everything shapeshifts. We never die, we never leave. Einsteinian science confirms that matter and enery never leave they just change – they shapeshift. But since we’re getting these messages from the earth, it’s an incredibly wonderful opportunity to be able to respond to the challenge.”
www.shareguide.com
www.shareguide.com/Perkins.html

John Perkins’s organization Dream Change Coalition leads trips to the Highlands of Ecuador to work with the Shuar and Quechua and he gives workshops in the USA and in Europe. On the back cover of the book is written:

…Now these shamans are turning their wisdom and power to the problem of curing a new kind of illness-that created by the industrial world’s dream of dominating and exploiting nature.
John Perkins tells the story of these remarkable shamans and of the U.S. medical doctors, psychologists, and scientists who have gone with him to learn the techniques of dream change. These shamanic teachings have sparked a revolution in modern concepts about healing, the subconscious, and the powers each of us has to alter individual and communal reality.

John has used the knowledge he gained from master shamans, around the world in his successful career as a management consultant, president of a US energy company, and as founder of the Dream Change Coalition, an organization that inspires executives to clean up pollution, reshape corporate goals, and form Earth-honoring partnerships with indigenous cultures. www.dreamchange.org
www.johnperkins.org

Posted on

www.care2.com

If lately you’ve been thinking about how you can contribute to making our world the world it can be, here’s a website for you. www.Care2.com I’ve taken the following from Yoga+ Magazine’s July/August 2007 issue on Myths & Masters, page 88. And because I couldn’t decide on the most important part, I copied all of it for you.
www.yogaplus.org

The “Hundredth Monkey Effect” proposes that when a critical mass of minds reaches awareness, an ideological breakthrough occurs, and others are instantaneously transformed. So how many spiritually, socially, and environmentally aware people would it take to raise human consciousness to a higher level? Luckily, Care2.com is gauging our progress. With over 7 million members, the Web’s largest progressive community site inspires and empowers those who “care to” make a difference. Connect with people and nonprofit organizations who share your cause, whether it’s human rights, reducing greenhouse gases, or spreading the joy of yoga, get informed on current issues and sign petitions; search the Healthy Living database for tips on everything from chakras to hybrid cars; send free e-cards; and much more. Who knows-you may just be the “hundredth monkey” that shifts our entire collective consciousness. -Natalya Podgorny

www.Care2.com now has 8 million members.

What else is there to say?

Posted on

edith wharton

Have you read AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY EDITH WHARTON A BACKWARD GLANCE? I’m not sure how this book became mine, but I started reading it recently. It’s a gentle book to read before sleeping. It’s written lightly – hovering on the surface – at least so far. Edith Wharton was born in 1862, and if you have any inclination to glimpse how the rich lived in New York City, the surrounding areas, and abroad at that period, you’ll like this book. She doesn’t weigh the reader down with problems of any kind, which makes reading before bed pleasant, and yet the book has substance and through her eyes we gain insight into how things were then.

She knew the “important” people of those times, and comments on those associations, always skimming the surface. She appreciated the fact that she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and her remembrances are light and airy, at least in book form, even when she writes about loss of money, death,, war, etc. However, as a person she was “impossibly fussy” regarding just about everything concerning herself, so says Louis Auchincloss who wrote the Introduction. This is a sentence in his Introduction: “What room was there for the second rate in books, pictures, flowers, excursions, meals, friends, when the first rate was there to be culled?” And in the book she suggests this, more or less, about herself.

The “impossibly fussy” in her possibly gave us her wonderful stories.

www.edithwharton.org
www.edithwhartonsociety.org

Posted on

zecharia sitchin, alex grey, gabriel cousens and more at eastwestnyc

A few years ago I watched with a hairy eyeball when EastWest closed its doors and put up a sign saying they were renovating. I’d been noticing that when this happened to a store what was usually meant was: Sorry, we’re no longer in business. We had to close. Well, the months went by and EastWest was still closed. And when I passed by, there was never any action outside that boarded-up building. I was beginning to think I’d have to stand directly across the street, and with flailing fists and the loudest voice I could muster, yell, “What are you doing in there?” Because had another nail salon opened replacing another of my favorite shops, I would have been terribly bent out of shape.

Hallelujah! They opened after a year. And what’s there is, well, you’ll see on the website. 78 Fifth Ave. @ 14thStreet www.eastwestnyc.com

The East/West website lists the Meet-ups and Ongoing Classes, and, just to whet your appetite, I’ve posted only three of the Special Events scheduled for March as copied from the eletter.

Meet Zecharia Sitchin!
Journeys to the Mystical Past: Sequel To The Earth Chronicles Expeditions
Thursday, Mar 6th, 7pm Free in the Cafe!
Listen as renowned researcher of metaphysical antiquity shares his own story of indefatigable dedication to uncovering secrets of the Giza pyramids & Sphinx. Hear Sitchin’s firsthand accounts of the inner workings of the Vatican, the enigma of a futuristic computer from millenia ago, and the secret handiwork of a Divine Architect at Stonehenge, at Malta, and in the Americas.
www.sitchin.com

Visionary Artist Alex Grey!
Thursday, Mar 13, 7pm Free in the Cafe!
COSM, the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors is a space in New York City dedicated to housing and showcasing the transformative artwork of visionary artist Alex Grey.
www.alexgrey.com

Meet Gabriel Cousens!
“There Is A Cure For Diabetes”
Monday, Mar 17, 7pm Free in the Cafe!
Diabetes is supposedly incurable and affects millions. World-renowned holistic medical doctor Gabriel Cousens asserts it is possible to reverse type-II disbetes in only 21 days!
www.treeoflife.nu

They’re better than ever!