River of the Mind

River's Gold

Allow the river of the mind
to flow freely,
without conceptual constraint,
... through the open landscape of awareness,
and the gold of realization
will wash up on its own.

from "Transparent Leaves from the Tree of Life" by Georg Feuerstein

How To Raise Your Vibration: Healing the Shadow

How To Raise Your Vibration: Healing the Shadow:

Healing the Shadow


 
Our shadow is everything we think we aren’t. It is an accumulation of our stored darkness that we refuse to look at and accept. It is everything we reject and hate within our own being such as our own anger, jealousy, fear, shame, lies, ignorance, intolerance, bitterness and re-activeness. Our shadow holds everything we think is “bad” and since we only want to accept our “good” qualities….all of our deepest darkest secrets get pushed to the background (stored in our energy fields) creating our shadow. Whatever we feel is not acceptable to reveal to our family, friends, society and ourselves is hidden within our shadow. In order to be accepted and feel good about ourselves we reject those parts of our psyches that we don’t want to show the world. Unfortunately, all of these rejected aspects of ourselves still remain with us and are covered up by all of our social masks. However, these negative aspects are still a part of our being and they will continue to show themselves when we least expect it! Regardless of how much we try to suppress them, there they are seeking attention, healing and transformation. At a certain point on our journey back to wholeness, our shadow will reveal itself. What seemed like a straight path back to love, light and unification all the sudden takes an unexpected turn when the dark aspects of ourselves begin to make themselves known. At this point, we will no longer be able to hide from ourselves. As we face God, we face ourselves! All of our perceived “bad qualities” that we have not owned will rise to the surface so they too can be acknowledged and accepted and brought back into the light and truth of our being.

Facing our shadow is a difficult process because it appears suddenly, out of the blue, throwing us off track forcing us to face our fears, insecurities, past mistakes and poor decisions. Our shadow reminds us where we need to focus for a deeper level of healing. It shows us our repressed emotions, feelings, dysfunctions, history, denials, weaknesses, addictions and patterns. We do not need to fear our shadow; in fact, we need to learn how to embrace it. Our shadow will only show up when we are ready to truly move into wholeness, gain our highest soul’s potential and become the master of our lives. We must move through our darkness before we will truly be able to fully step into the light of our divinity. When we acknowledge the information our shadow provides and accept its teachings, our shadow becomes the bridge between the darkness of our fears to the light of redemption and unification. Our soul knows when it is time to clear our energy and begin to live our life in a different way. When our soul feels we are ready, our shadow will be brought forth and each of us will be called to find the inner strength to face it so we can transform it. This part of ourselves can no longer be denied, it must be acknowledged, transformed and integrated into our being before we will be able to raise our vibrations to our highest potential.

When things in our life take a turn for the worst and we can’t figure out what we are doing to create these circumstances, we can be sure that our soul has decided that it is time for us to meet our shadow. Our shadow is held in place by the unconscious parts of our mind that need healing. These unconscious parts are like sub personalities that were created from our unwillingness to fully feel our negative feelings because we perceived them to be bad. Since we have not been taught how to deal with these negative feelings, in a healthy way, we stuff them in our subconscious mind creating our shadow. This part of our self gets disconnected from our conscious self because we only want to deal with what makes us feel good. Unfortunately, the human experience does not always feel good and our uncomfortable feelings must be dealt with or we will continue to stuff things in our unconscious mind creating a darker, larger shadow moving us further and further away from the light of our God self. Denial of our negative feelings does not make them go away. In order to transform them they must be fully experienced so they can be acknowledged and healed. If we continue to avoid these unpleasant feelings they will continue to influence our behaviors and will be like little magnets that continue to attract people and situations into our life that we would rather not be involved with. When we feel like there is something outside of ourselves creating our life circumstance, and we want to blame others, we need to stop and realize that it is our shadowy sub personalities that are magnetizing these events into our lives. These parts of ourselves have been disowned and they are drawing attention to themselves so they can be welcomed back into our being and healed. This can only occur if we choose to receive the gift our shadow is trying to show us and acknowledge the emotion, feeling and behavior as part of our being. If we deny our shadow consciousness it will continue to persist. Bringing our conscious awareness to it and accepting it as part of our being shines light on it, transmuting it into love. Once all of these disowned aspects of our being are integrated, we will no longer need to draw unpleasant situations into our lives.

  
The unwillingness to look at ourselves honestly and make the changes necessary to evolve our souls is the essence of hypocrisy. We must accept accountability, responsibility and ownership of our own darkness and misqualified energy. We all have a shadow and the only way to transform it is to shine light on it through our increased awareness and willingness to stop rejecting those parts of ourselves that we don’t want to own. Be aware that your shadow and negative ego support each other because they are both disowned aspects of ourselves that we have separated from the light of our God self. Healing means to make ourselves whole. By disowning and rejecting our ego and our shadow we fragment ourselves into separate beings keeping us from reaching a state of unification and wholeness. In order for us to re-member ourselves bringing us into a state of healing and wholeness we must recognize and own our shadow so we can transform our ego bringing more of our true divine essence into our being.

Both the ego and the shadow support each other because the main job of the ego is to keep us in separation, fragmented from our God self. In fact your ego will deny that your shadow is a part of your being, in any way. The ego knows if we recognize and heal our shadow, our shadow will be integrated into our God self which means the ego will be out of a job and integrated as well. In order to keep the shadow from being acknowledged, the ego will assist the shadow by helping the shadow to distance itself from its source of discomfort which creates further separation and denial within our being. For example, when we see someone misbehaving or being “bad” we pass judgment (ego) and immediately label it as “not us” (shadow). We blame (ego & shadow) and point fingers at everyone else for their inappropriate behavior projecting (ego & shadow) those parts of ourselves we have denied (ego) onto them making ourselves superior (ego) to all the other people out there (ego) who could never, never be reflections of ourselves. The ego loves to reinforce its sense of separateness by making us feel justified and self-righteous in our blaming. The egos basic premise is that of victim hood and a victim must always have someone to blame. Because our shadow avoids everything unpleasant, it will avoid taking responsibility for the co-creation of the circumstance and stuff it in the subconscious mind simply wanting it to go away leaving us alone. Unfortunately, this perpetuates and intensifies our darkness keeping our rejected parts inside the shadow and away from the light of our God self.

The shadow holds all the darkness from every traumatic event we have ever endured and not cleared from our subconscious mind. In order for us to fully step into our light, resolve our karma and raise our vibrations we must face and clear all of those things we refuse to accept about ourselves. This is why our relationships are often referred to as mirrors. Whatever we see in another person “that provokes an uncomfortable reaction” is usually a good indicator of a characteristic or sub personality within our own being that needs to be accepted and healed as well. We tend to see in other people all of the qualities that we have personally disowned. They are mirroring back to us our own shadows. Anger, hatred, jealousy and bitterness can only hurt us if it is denied. When we suppress our emotions and feelings, because we have been taught they are wrong, our shadow enlarges keeping us from accessing greater amounts of light. Once our feelings are embraced and we learn what they are trying to teach us they will no longer be stored in our shadows demagnetizing the charge they once had on us. For example, if we see someone overreacting and it doesn’t provoke a reaction, emotion or feeling within our being, then we can be sure we have owned this aspect of ourselves because it will no longer have a charge within our being. We will be able to have compassion for this person knowing that a part of their shadow has risen up to the surface to be acknowledged and healed. Neutrality, not denial, is a good sign that you are integrating those aspects of your self that use to enrage you. However, if you continue to attract repetitive situations with people who keep demonstrating a similar type of behavior, that provokes a reaction in you, then you can be sure the Universe is trying to show you a disowned aspect of yourself that needs to be owned and integrated within your being. The Universe is lovingly bringing situations to each one of us helping us to heal and step into wholeness. When we have demagnetized all of our shadow consciousness, we will no longer attract relationships to show us our hidden aspects that we have been in denial about. We will no longer need another person to mirror our shadow back to us and we will naturally move towards those relationships that reflect back our light. Before we can be healed of any condition - body, mind or soul - we must be willing to take ownership of our creations before we can truly let them go releasing them into the light of God.

Each of us are affected by our own level of shadow consciousness and ego distortions. For the most part, this is not intentional, it is usually an unconscious act of self-deception that our shadow and ego thrives on. However, raising our vibration, merging with our God self and entering the Kingdom of God requires us to bring everything we have been avoiding unconsciously into our conscious awareness so it can be transformed. Energy never dies; it must be transformed! If we do not face our shadow, feel it and clear it we will not be able to raise our vibration high enough for our God self to merge with our being. We have to transform our darkness into light and the only way to do that is to bring it into our conscious awareness and look at it with brutal self-honesty. We need to clear out our energy fields and face our lies, shame, blame and anger. We must stop denying the negativity that lives within our being and face it so we can heal ourselves and become whole and authentic. These negativities are the very things we are here on Earth to heal. We are in a constant state of being refined and our ego and shadow work will not end until we have purified ourselves enough to be completely absorbed back into the light of the Creator Of “All That Is”.

 
Shadow Reactions
  • Anything that feels like it isn’t you.
  • Feelings and Emotions “others” provoke in you that you just want to go away. Your shadow is all of your rejections.
  • All feelings and emotions you don’t want to own.
  •  “Out of character” emotions or reactions that are showing up in your life. These are the hidden sub personalities, stored in your subconscious, that want to be healed!
  • Aspects of your self you don’t want others to see so you wear a mask.
  • Our deepest, darkest and most terrible secrets.
  •  Our resistances. What we resist, persists.

 Ego Reactions that Support the Shadow 

  •  Blames others for their current situation. Refuses to accept responsibility for their own life / circumstances / creations / behaviors. We blame someone else when they exhibit a part of our shadow that is trying to be healed.
  • Projects their disowned sub personalities onto others because they don’t want to acknowledge their hidden issues. Finger pointing! Our outer reality is a reflection of our inner reality. Whatever we see in another person, that provokes a reaction, is a reflection of something within our own being that needs to be owned.
“ You are angry ”
“ You are obnoxious ” 
“ You are over reactive ” 
“ You are hateful ” 
“ You are emotional ”
“ You have a big ego ”
  • The ego creates the distance (separation) the shadow wants from its uncomfortable feelings. This creates separation / fragmentation within our being keeping us from reuniting with all of our parts, which keeps us from being whole.
  • Denial! Denies that the shadow is a part of you:

 
“ I don’t have a shadow ” 
“ I don’t have negative feelings ” 
“ I don’t have any darkness” 
“ I don’t wear a mask.” 
“ I don’t have issues” 
“ I don’t need healing”
 

 

 Signs that You are Integrating Your Shadow and Ego

  •  You notice behaviors in others but have no need to react or respond.
  • Other people’s behaviors no longer create a feeling or an emotion in you. They do not trigger an internal alarm or create negative head chatter. You are becoming neutral.
  • You no longer blame the other person or berate yourself when a shadow aspect shows up. You acknowledge and accept the disowned parts of your being, shining the light of your consciousness on them so they can be transmuted and healed. You are pulling yourself out of blame and denial.
  • You are able to fully embrace and fully love all parts of yourself, even the parts that aren’t so great. This is self-love!!!
  • You embrace your humanity with determination and acceptance knowing that when your shadow consciousness arises this is a positive sign that shows healing is occurring in your life. You are allowing all of your disowned shadowy sub personalities to be demagnetized through your acceptance and healing of them.
  • Your life has become more peaceful and your circumstances, relationships and interactions are becoming more positive.

 Questions to Ask Yourself

  
  • What judgments do you have about other people? These judgments show us our hidden aspects that need to be healed. Once we own them, other people’s behaviors will not bother us.
  • What scenarios in your life are repetitive? Do you keep attracting the same kind of negative people in your life? What are they trying to show you?
  • Be really honest with yourself and make a list of all the things about yourself you try to hide from others. Recognize that it takes twice as much energy to hide these aspects from yourself and others than it does to own them.
  • Where are you being inauthentic in your interactions? In what situations do you put on a “mask”? What are you hiding?

 If we do not confront the darkness within us we will meet it as fate.

 ~ Carl Jung

  
Because the sage confronts his difficulties he never experiences them.

~ Lao Tsu

  
The gold is in the dark.

 ~ Carl Jung

  
When you can say, “ I am that”, to the deepest darkest aspects of yourself, then you can reach true enlightenment.

 ~ Debbie Ford

  
The unexamined life is not worth living.

 ~Plato

Chia

Chia Seeds
 What are the Benefits of Chia?

Originating out of the central valley of Mexico, chia was traditionally used by the Aztecs who recognized it as a superfood for its ability to translate into high amounts of energy when consumed. In fact, it was so coveted, that it was sometimes used as currency. Even the state of Chiapas, derived from Chiapan, translates loosely to “river where the chia sage grows. Chia contains more omega-3 fatty acids than any other plant food, including flax.


The human body is unable to produce omega-3s, but they are essential to proper brain function, growth and normal development.


They also lower the risk of heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. Chia is also a great source of protein. When soaked, the seeds form a thick gel that actually slows down the rate at which digestive enzymes turn carbs into sugar, thus making it especially beneficial for diabetics with high blood sugar. Chia also maintains high levels of water (up to 12 times it weight) helping with proper hydration. Lastly, chia is a powerful antioxidant, so much so that they can be stored for long periods of time without risk of spoiling.


Nutrition Facts
One bottle of Mamma Chia naturally provides:
- 2000mg Omega-3s
- Excellent Source of Fiber
- High in Antioxidants – ORAC Value 2644
- 4g Complete Protein
- 95mg Calcium
- Other minerals including Potassium, Magnesium and Iron

Chia Seeds – A Synergy of Nutrients
The dynamic synergy of nutrients found in chia seeds includes soaring omega-3s, balanced fiber, high antioxidants, complete protein, calcium, folate, iron, magnesium and more.  This all adds up to an abundance of vitality, energy and strength!

Omega-3
Chia seeds provide more omega-3 than flax. Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and arthritis, and have been linked to improved brain memory and performance.  Chia naturally has a desirable 3:1 ratio of omega-3 to omega-6.  And unlike flax, chia seeds do not need to be ground in order to absorb the nutritional benefits.

Balanced Fiber
Chia seeds contains more dietary fiber than flax.  Fiber consumption has been linked to a lower risk for Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, diverticulitis, irritable bowel syndrome and heart disease.  It may also lower the risk for some cancers, help reduce the absorption of cholesterol, and even be an aid in weight loss programs.

Antioxidants
Chia seeds contains more antioxidants than blueberries.   According to Dr. Richard Cutler, the former Director of the National Institute of Aging, “The amount of antioxidants in your body is directly proportional to how long you will live.”  Antioxidants are nutrients in our foods which can slow the oxidative damage to our body.  When our body’s cells use oxygen, they naturally produce “free radicals” that cause damage to our tissues, including major organs and skin, accelerating the aging process.

Protein
Chia seeds have more protein than soybeans.  Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein and the body uses protein to build and repair tissues.  Protein is also used to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals.  Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.

Calcium
Chia seeds provide more calcium than milk.  Calcium is the chief supportive element in bones and teeth, and its salt makes up about 70 percent of bone by weight, providing your bones with their strength and rigidity.

Folate
The folate content of chia seeds is higher than that of asparagus.  Also known as Vitamin B9, folate plays a crucial role in facilitating many body processes.  Among them are cell maintenance and repair, synthesis of DNA, amino acid metabolism and formation of red and white blood cells.  The benefits of folic acid include inhibiting colon cancer as well as preventing heart disease.


Iron
Chia seeds contain more iron than spinach.  Iron is an essential mineral and an important component of the proteins involved in oxygen transport and metabolism.  When iron is low, oxygen consumption slows down.

Magnesium
Chia seeds contain more magnesium than broccoli.  Magnesium is involved in the synthesis of protein, and is an important co-factor in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the human body, many of which contribute to the production of energy.  While calcium impacts muscle contractions, magnesium balances that effect and relaxes muscles.


Information from http://www.mammachia.com/what-are-the-health-benefits




Add Nutritional Chia Seeds to Your Diet
It's easy to add Chia seeds to your diet, by making a basic Chia Gel and keeping it in the frige. This gel can be added to recipes or smoothies and will keep refridgerated for about 2 weeks.


Basic Chia Gel
Put slightly warmed water into a container with a tight-fitting lid, use either plastic or a glass jar.  Pour one part dry seeds into 9 parts water, stir or whisk to break up any clumps.  Let mixture stand for 1 minute and whisk again.  Store in the refrigerator.

The amount of water you use determines the thickness of the gel-ie, the more water you use, the less thick the gel will be.You  can determine how you prefer it after experimenting.


How to Use Chia Gel in Recipes
Add this mixture to sauces, drinks, yogurt, salad dressings, cream cheese, salsa, cereals, yogurt, dips, puddings, soups, or other liquid or creamy foods.  The gel won’t affect flavor, but does boost nutritional value!

Chia gel is a wonderful replacement for fats in baked goods.


Recipes

Miracle Chia Drink
Ingredients:
1/2 cup orange or lemon juice
sweetener to taste (stevia, agave nectar, honey, sweet juice)
10 cups water
1/2 cup Chia Seeds
lemon slices or mint to garnish

Preparation:
Put all ingredients into a sealable container.  Shake or stir until sugar is dissolved and all clumps of chia seeds are broken up.  Let your Chia drink sit about 10 minutes, then shake again.  Chill for 30 minutes, then garnish and serve over ice.

This drink will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days if you'd like to make it ahead and drink a little every day.

Fear

‎I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.


― Frank Herbert, Dune

Life Will Break You

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.


— Louise Erdrich (The Painted Drum)

Christina Sell: Sequence

Christina Sell: Sequence: Sequence from last night's group practice. theme : FUNdamentals- having fun with the basics sub theme : small agonies in service to a gre...

Theme - Joy in the Present Moment

Theme:  Present Moment

Cit or Ananda:  Remembering (Joy in the Present Moment)

Heart Quality:  Joy

Physical Focus:  ME - hugging into the present moment.  OE - Shining out with joy of contentment

Words:

  • Drop preconceived notions against your body and love exactly as it is now
  • Hug in accepting and appreciating present joy
  • Connections
  •  Life is available only in the present moment
  • Feelings come alive and go like clouds in the windy sky.  Conscious breathing is my anchor
  • The past is gone, the future is not yet here, & if we do not go back to ourselves, we can not be in-touch with life
  • The present moment is filled with joy & happiness, if you are attentive you will see it
  • Action is the power & the energetic process through which attitude is expressed
  • The breath, the pulse of the heart are anchors to the present
Always say 'yes' to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? What could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say 'yes' to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you."


~ Eckhart Tolle

Yoga Class Themes

Even though the content of this entire blog is inspiration for themes, below are ideas from other gracious teachers or as they come to mind.

The most important thing when using a theme is to contemplate what it means to you personally. Journal about it, meditate, and even think about it right before you fall asleep. Distil the ideas of the themes into one main core message and everything else will unfold from there.

General Themes 
  • Effort and Surrender 
  • Giving and Receiving 
  • Strength and Softness 
  • Beginner’s Mind 
  • Balance 
  • Luck 
  • Smiles 
  • Miracles 
  • Play 
  • Friendliness 
  • Discipline 
  • Integrity
  • Foundation
Yoga Sutras
  • 1.1 - Atha Yoganusasanum ~ Now begins the practice of yoga…implying “now”at this present moment…and even again 5 minutes from now, when the student falls out of their yoga mind or the quality of the breath starts to suffer. This sutra implies an ongoing fresh start both on and off the mat... 
  • 1.2 Yoga chittavritti nirodhaha – yoga stills the fluctuations of the mind 
  • 1.12 Abhyasa vairagya tannirodaha – happiness is obtained through a strong practice and letting go of the fruits of your practice. 
  • 2.1 Tapas svadyaya ishvarapranidhani kriyayoga – the practice/action of yoga is a disciplined offering to something bigger. 
  • 2.33 - The yoga concept patipaksha bhavanam ~ (changing a negative thought into a positive,changing ones perspective of a situation). This can be applied to how a student views there practice 
  • 2.46 Sthira sukham asanam – your asana or seat should be both steady and comfortable.
Chakras
  1. Muladhara – pelvic floor – earth – instinct, security, survival, potential, food, matter 
  2. Swadisthana – sacrum – water – change, movement, pleasure, emotions, sexuality, desire 
  3. Manipura – navel – fire – power, autonomy, will, energy, technology, self-esteem - twists 
  4. Anahata – heart – air – love, breath, balance, relationship, 
  5. Vishudda – throat – ether – self-expression, sound, vibration, communication, creativity 
  6. Ajna – brow/pineal gland – light – intuition, sight, imagination, vision 
  7. Sahasrara – crown – consciousness – thought, knowing, understanding, transcendence, meditation, universal connection
Koshas

1. Annamaya kosha – earth – physical layer
2. Pranamaya kosha – water – energy layer
3. Manomaya kosha – fire – mind layer
4. Vijanamaya kosha – air – wisdom layer
5. Anandamaya kosha – space – bliss layer

Kleśas (also klesha)

A term from Indian philosophy and yoga, meaning a "poison". The third śloka (also anglicized as shloka or sloka, meaning, 'song', from the root śru, 'hear) of Patañjali's Yoga sūtra explicitly identifies Five Poisons pañcakleśā):

Translated into English, these five (pañca) Kleśa-s or Afflictions (kleśāḥ) are:
  1. ávidyā - Ignorance (in the form of a misapprehension about reality)
  2. Asmitā - egoism (in the form of an erroneous identification of the Self with the intellect)
  3. Rāga - attachment
  4. Dveṣa - aversion
  5. Abhiniveśāḥ - fear of death (which is derived from clinging ignorantly to life)
Yama
  • ahimsa – non-violence
  • satya – benevolent honesty
  • aparigraha – non-hoarding
  • asteya – non-stealing
  • bramacharya – to behave as a student of god
Niyama
  • saucha – cleanliness
  • santosha – contentment
  • tapas – discipline
  • swadyaya – self-study
  • ishvara pranidhana – offering to something bigger
Mudras
  • Jnana
  • Anjali
Hindu Gods and Goddess stories
  • Durga
  • Hanuman - the story of Hanuman remembering his powers – Hanumanasana
  • Shiva Nataraj
  • Ganesha
  • Sarawat
  • Lakshmi
  • Kali
5 Divine Acts of Shiva
  1. Creation
  2. Sustenance
  3. Dissolution
  4. Concealment
  5. Revelation
Opposites
  • Purusha/Prakriti – spirit/matter
  • Concealment and Revelation (Vilaya and Anugraha)
  • Mystery & insight
  • Ignorance and awakening
  • Forgetting and remembering
  • Sthira/Sukha
  • Yin/Yang
  • Embrace/Release
Trinities
  • Icca – Jnana – Kriya = Will, Knowledge, and Action
  • Sarawati – Lakshmi – Kali
  • The Gunas – essential qualities of nature: tamas, rajas, sattva
The Malas
(dust or film on the mirror of consciousness concealing us from our true nature)
  • Anava Mala – unworthiness, sadness, separation from God, lack of meaning
  • Mayiya Mala – competition, anger, jealousy, separation from others
  • Karma Mala – anxiety, fear, the desire to own and to accomplish
Attributes of the Absolute
  • Swatantrya – ultimate freedom
  • Purnatva – fullness
  • Spanda – pulsation
  • Chit – consciousness
  • Ananda – bliss
  • Shri – benevolence/ auspiciousness
Western Philosophy/Psychology
  • Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs
  • Flow – Mihály Csíkszentmihályi
  • Thriving vs Surviving
  • Use your strengths
5 Elements
  • Earth
  • Air
  • Fire
  • Water
  • Space/Ether
Bandhas
  • Mula
  • Uddiyana
  • Jalandara
  • Hasta & Pada
Holidays
  • Thanksgiving: Gratitude
  • Valentine’s Day: Love yourself first
  • Easter: I believe in miracles
  • Remembrance Day: Service
  • Diwali, Indian festival of lights: Be the light
  • Guru Purnima: honor the teacher inside & out
  • Equinoxes: Balance
  • Mother’s day: nurture yourself
Other
  • Beauty
  • Nitya Karmas – creating beauty out of the every day. The nitya karmas are the actions that we do every day of our life: eating, sleeping, drinking water, going to the bathroom. They are the eternal actions that we are bound to do
  • Listening
  • Dedication
  • Stillness
  • Prana
  • Sankalpa – Intention
  • TED Talks Courage and Vulnerability – Brene Brown
  • Lotus: beauty from the muck
  • The 3 gunas(3 qualities of mind) ~ tamas,rajas and sattva
  • The place in the middle
  • Practicing to 75% so you never harden & hit the wall. Be careful what you teach yourself
  • The similarities between nature & our yoga practice
  • Our connection to the Divine Mother (Earth) - Bird of Paradise
  • Gravity - Force & Counter Force (Tara Judelle)
The Five Koshas & The Five Kleshas

 

Warrior

Mindful Smack: Warrior
by Elena Brower on September 27, 2011

“The term warrior does not of course symbolize someone who makes war on others. Rather it refers to someone who works to overcome aggression, the fundamental cause of all war, in oneself and in the world. To do this requires bravery as well as gentleness.”
-Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

We are at our best when we are less aggressive and more accepting. With situations, with people, even with memories, let’s practice accepting what the moment offers, without aggression, without trying to change it. That is the sign of a true warrior. Brave AND gentle.

Inspiration

We all have something that we are meant to do. Your genius will shine through, and happiness will fill your life, the instant you discover your higher purpose and then direct all your energies towards it."

~ Robin Sharma in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari


Faith: Out of the Darkness and into Flight
When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly."

~Edward Teller

Let Go and Trust
If we can just let go and trust that things will work out they way they're supposed to, without trying to control the outcome, then we can begin to enjoy the moment more fully. The joy of the freedom it brings becomes more pleasurable than the experience itself.

~ Goldie Hawn

Nothing Is Impossible
Nothing that is possible in spirit is impossible in flesh and blood. Nothing that man can think is impossible. Nothing that man can imagine is impossible of realization."

~ Wallace Wattles in The Science of Being Great

Water Your Dreams with Optimism
Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.

~ Lao Tzu

Experience Life in All Possible Ways
Experience life in all possible ways -- good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don't be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become."

~ Osho

Color Your Attitude
Your attitude is like a box of crayons that color your world. Constantly color your picture gray, and your picture will always be bleak. Try adding some bright colors to the picture by including humor, and your picture begins to lighten up.

~ Allen Klein

Gratitude
Be grateful for what you have now. As you begin to think about all the things in your life you are grateful for, you will be amazed at the never ending thoughts that come back to you of more things to be grateful for. You have to make a start, and then the law of attraction will receive those grateful thoughts and give you more just like them.

~ Rhonda Byrne in The Secret

Happy People Are Beautiful
I think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and they reflect that happiness.
~ Drew Barrymore

Letting Go

Holding on to anything is like holding on to your breath. You will suffocate. The only way to get anything in the physical universe is by letting go of it. Let go and it will be yours forever.

~ Deepak Chopra

The one thing you can't take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one's freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.


~Viktor Frankl

The Safer Way to Make-Up

The Safer Way to Make-Up

The Safer Way to Make-Up
Dr. Frank LipmanSeptember 27

To achieve optimal health and create sustainable wellness, it’s imperative that you become aware of not only what you are putting in and around your body, but also, what you put on it. Between shampoos, toothpaste, face creams, deodorant, cosmetics and so on, most people are voluntarily dousing themselves daily with multiple chemicals, carcinogens and mutagens, adding to their toxic loads and setting the stage for illness and disease. Seems like kind of a crazy habit, doesn’t it?

The problem is that many cosmetics and personal care products contain undisclosed toxic chemicals that are dangerous to your health and are known to contribute to cancer, nerve damage, and infertility. And as your skin is an extremely permeable membrane, these toxins enter your body very easily, so the fewer you use the better, particularly with products that remain on the skin for long periods of time, such as facial makeup. The longer you are exposed to chemicals, the greater the opportunity for your body to absorb them. My advice? Try to keep cosmetic self-pollution to a minimum by taking the following steps:

1. When choosing makeup, select unscented, fragrance free products that contain few or no petrochemical derivatives.
2. Avoid products that contain diethanolamine (DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA).
3. Avoid products with the preservatives imidazolidinyl urea and quarternium 15.
4. Look for nail polish products that are “3-free” meaning they do not contain the “toxic trio” of toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate. Here is a wallet sized list of 3-free nail polishes.
5. Look for skin care lines that are formulated with fewer dangerous ingredients, such as Dr. Hauschka, Aubrey Organics, Ren, Sumbody, Amala, Tata Harper, Tammy Fender and Weleda. To research the toxicity of a specific product before you buy, check out the Environmental Working Group’s massive cosmetics database.
6. To cut exposure, use make-up sparingly, and only on the days you think you “need” it and not at all on the weekends. When you get home from work, take your makeup off right away – don’t wait till bedtime.
7. Trade in your high-end perfumes and colognes for plant-based essential oils.
8. Opt for natural hair colorings like henna and other plant-based formulas.
9. Carry a copy of the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Safe Cosmetics, to help you make the best cosmetics choices possible.
10. And finally, for a quick review and great blog by one our guest authors, Melisse Gelula, a natural beauty expert, read about 9 pure and cheap skin care products.

Relationships & An Open Letter

Relationships are not about shaping your partner, but supporting your partner in reaching full potential as a mature and aware human being.
~ Gabriel Cousens, M.D.


To my one and only,

I have been longing for you ever since I knew how it was to long for someone. To many shooting stars, in birthday candles, fallen eyelashes, in dandelions and flower petals, I have wished for you. For you are out there somewhere, far away in time and place, but you are also here in my heart. Shakespeare said: Journeys end in lovers meeting. I cannot see you yet. The end for us is a long way ahead, but even now I am walking to you my love. Every day, every step, every beat of my heart, I know that the Lord is bringing me nearer to you. The road is long and sometimes I am weary. I long for you so much it feels like I am holding my breath. I long for you to be here, to be near, to be known. I can only dream you, and wish you and wait for you.

So patiently, I will wait . For I know – I am sure – every second of the wait will be worth it. I’ll hold true to the promise I’ve made. For that promise is sacred and it is not in vain. I put my faith to the author of love, of this love, that He will see us through.

I will pray for you as I am waiting. I hope you will (pray) and are (waiting), too. ‘Cause as I walk this road there are still many steps to take, many other paths to go through. As I dream of finding you, there are still other dreams to reach and destinies to be realized. For when I finally find you, I want to be ready. Ready to take on our destiny. God will lead us to that, in perfect time. And when that time comes, I know it will be grand and far-reaching than what I’ve ever dreamed of. Until then, I will be here, praying and steadfastly waiting. I will keep on longing for you and wishing on stars and dandelions, until every wish comes true and I will finally meet you.

Yours and only yours,
Evangeline~
Quote in honor of Troy Davis, via Pema Chodron:
If we want there to be peace in the world, we have to be brave enough to soften what is rigid in our hearts, to find the soft spot and stay with it.
We have to have that kind of courage and take that kind of responsibility.
That’s the true practice of peace.

(Practicing Peace in Times of War) {} I'm not "Spiritual." I just practice being a good person.

When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something.
We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way.
We can shut down and feel resentful, or we can touch in on that throbbing quality.
~ Pema Chodron

Motivation is a fire from within.  If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
~ Stephen R. Covey

Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.
~ Turkish Proverb

The Buddhist View of Loneliness as a Good Thing

The Buddhist View of Loneliness as a Good Thing.
Via  ~ http://www.elephantjournal.com/
on Feb 16, 2009

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche & Pema Chodron.

From 2009: Tonight in Boulder there’s a Valentine’s Ball, which elephantjournal.com is proud to be sponsoring (it’s 80s style, and benefits the Women’s Bean Project). There’s hundreds of gorgeous in-and-out people going to St. Julien, friends partying at b.side, and all the other restaurants and bars will be full of sweet lovers and banded-together loners alike.

But the ‘shadow’ side of St. Valentine’s Day, is, of course, similar to the ‘shadow’ on Christmas, that other warm and bright holy-day all about togetherness. For tonight more folks than not find themselves alone. And whether we’re ashamed of that loneliness, or fine with it, we have Hallmark to thank for this day which reminds us that loneliness, uncovered, is at the heart of being a true, full human being. At least, that’s what I was taught.

My first love was a girl named Susannah Brown (a common enough name that revealing it will not enable anyone to google or FB her). We met when we were in high school, and had a glorious, tragic, intimate year and a half together. After we broke up (all my fault), I missed her every day, for years. Every single day.

It helped somewhat that I’d been raised in the Buddhist tradition. I’m sure other religious and agnostic childhoods would bear other helpful fruit, but what I know is my own experience. Reading a teaching by Pema Chodron, an American Buddhist nun who was an early student of Chogyam Trungpa and now studies with Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, I was amazed that in the Buddhist view the feeling of loneliness is identified as the feeling of Buddha Nature. In other words, loneliness is not a lacking of something, but rather the aching fulfillment of our open, raw, caring nature. I remember thinking about this under the moon up at Rocky Mountain Dharma Center, in 1992, and my friend Jenny comforting me. I missed Susannah so badly that night, the stars and moon and silhouetted mountains seemed to prick little holes in my silly red heart.

Other Buddhist texts remind us that when we fall in love with our teacher, or the Dharma, it is only a recognition of our own enlightened nature in others, or externally. We have only to realize, in such open, empty moments, that the love that we seek is present, now.
But over to the experts.

Pema Chodron:
‘An analogy for Bodhicitta is the rawness of a broken heart. Sometimes this broken heart gives birth to anxiety and panic, sometimes to anger, resentment and blame. But under the hardness of that armour there is the tenderness of genuine sadness. This continual ache of the heart is a blessing that when accepted fully can be shared with all.’ (The Places That Scare You, p4)

For a talk by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche on Loneliness, Relationships & Ruling Your World, click here.

Chogyam Trungpa on “desolation, relationships, and loneliness as consort.”

Student: I’d like to ask a question about loneliness and love. In my experience, the kind of love where two people try to be together in order to protect themselves from loneliness hasn’t worked out too well. When you come in contact with loneliness, it seems to destroy a lot of things you try to pull off in trying to build up security. But can there be love between two people while they continue to try to work with the loneliness?

Trungpa Rinpoche: That’s an interesting question. I don’t think anybody can fall in love unless they feel lonely. People can’t fall in love unless they know they are lonely and are separate individuals. If by some strange misunderstanding, you think you are the other person already, then there’s no one for you to fall in love with. It doesn’t work that way. The whole idea of union is that of two being together. One and one together make union. If there’s just one, you can’t call that union. Zero is not union, one is not union, but two is union. So I think in love it is the desolateness that inspires the warmth. The more you feel a sense of desolation, the more warmth you feel at the same time. You can’t feel the warmth of the house unless it’s cold outside. The colder it is outside, the cozier it is at home.

S: What would be the difference between the relationship between lovers and the general relationship you have with the sangha as a whole, which is a whole bunch of people feeling desolateness to different degrees?

TR: The two people have a similarity in their type of loneliness. One particular person reminds another more of his or her own loneliness. You feel that your partner, in seeing you, feels more lonely. Whereas with the sangha, it’s more a matter of equal shares. There’s all-pervasive loneliness, ubiquitous loneliness, happening all over the place.
Student: Would you say that loneliness is love?…

…for the rest, and much more, go to Chronicle Project.

Pema Chodron via Shambhala Sun magazine. Excerpt:
In the middle way, there is no reference point. The mind with no reference point does not resolve itself, does not fixate or grasp. How could we possibly have no reference point? To have no reference point would be to change a deep-seated habitual response to the world: wanting to make it work out one way or the other. If I can’t go left or right, I will die! When we don’t go left or right, we feel like we are in a detox center. We’re alone, cold turkey with all the edginess that we’ve been trying to avoid by going left or right. That edginess can feel pretty heavy.

However, years and years of going to the left or right, going to yes or no, going to right or wrong has never really changed anything. Scrambling for security has never brought anything but momentary joy. It’s like changing the position of our legs in meditation. Our legs hurt from sitting cross-legged, so we move them. And then we feel, “Phew! What a relief!” But two and a half minutes later, we want to move them again. We keep moving around seeking pleasure, seeking comfort, and the satisfaction that we get is very short-lived.

We hear a lot about the pain of samsara, and we also hear about liberation. But we don’t hear much about how painful it is to go from being completely stuck to becoming unstuck. The process of becoming unstuck requires tremendous bravery, because basically we are completely changing our way of perceiving reality, like changing our DNA. We are undoing a pattern that is not just our pattern. It’s the human pattern: we project onto the world a zillion possibilities of attaining resolution. We can have whiter teeth, a weed-free lawn, a strife-free life, a world without embarrassment. We can live happily every after. This pattern keeps us dissatisfied and causes us a lot of suffering.

As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don’t deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity. To the degree that we’ve been avoiding uncertainty, we’re naturally going to have withdrawal symptoms—withdrawal from always thinking that there’s a problem and that someone, somewhere, needs to fix it.

The middle way is wide open, but it’s tough going, because it goes against the grain of an ancient neurotic pattern that we all share. When we feel lonely, when we feel hopeless, what we want to do is move to the right or the left. We don’t want to sit and feel what we feel. We don’t want to go through the detox. Yet the middle way encourages us to do just that. It encourages us to awaken the bravery that exists in everyone without exception, including you and me.
Meditation provides a way for us to train in the middle way—in staying right on the spot. We are encouraged not to judge whatever arises in our mind. In fact, we are encouraged not to even grasp whatever arises in our mind. What we usually call good or bad we simply acknowledge as thinking, without all the usual drama that goes along with right and wrong. We are instructed to let the thoughts come and go as if touching a bubble with a feather. This straightforward discipline prepares us to stop struggling and discover a fresh, unbiased state of being.

The experience of certain feelings can seem particularly pregnant with desire for resolution: loneliness, boredom, anxiety. Unless we can relax with these feelings, it’s very hard to stay in the middle when we experience them. We want victory or defeat, praise or blame. For example, if somebody abandons us, we don’t want to be with that raw discomfort. Instead, we conjure up a familiar identity of ourselves as a hapless victim. Or maybe we avoid the rawness by acting out and righteously telling the person how messed up he or she is. We automatically want to cover over the pain in one way or another, identifying with victory or victimhood.
Usually we regard loneliness as an enemy. Heartache is not something we choose to invite in. It’s restless and pregnant and hot with the desire to escape and find something or someone to keep us company. When we can rest in the middle, we begin to have a nonthreatening relationship with loneliness, a relaxing and cooling loneliness that completely turns our usual fearful patterns upside down.

There are six ways of describing this kind of cool loneliness. They are: less desire, contentment, avoiding unnecessary activity, complete discipline, not wandering in the world of desire, and not seeking security from one’s discursive thoughts.

Less desire is the willingness to be lonely without resolution when everything in us yearns for something to cheer us up and change our mood. Practicing this kind of loneliness is a way of sowing seeds so that fundamental restlessness decreases. In meditation, for example, every time we label “thinking” instead of getting endlessly run around by our thoughts, we are training in just being here without dissociation. We can’t do that now to the degree that we weren’t willing to do it yesterday or the day before or last week or last year. After we practice less desire wholeheartedly and consistently, something shifts. We feel less desire in the sense of being less solidly seduced by our Very Important Story Lines. So even if the hot loneliness is there, and for 1.6 seconds we sit with that restlessness when yesterday we couldn’t sit for even one, that’s the journey of the warrior. That’s the path of bravery. The less we spin off and go crazy, the more we taste the satisfaction of cool loneliness. As the Zen master Katagiri Roshi often said, “One can be lonely and not be tossed away by it.”

The second kind of loneliness is contentment. When we have nothing, we have nothing to lose. We don’t have anything to lose but being programmed in our guts to feel we have a lot to lose. Our feeling that we have a lot to lose is rooted in fear—of loneliness, of change, of anything that can’t be resolved, of nonexistence. The hope that we can avoid this feeling and the fear that we can’t become our reference point.

When we draw a line down the center of a page, we know who we are if we’re on the right side and who we are if we’re on the left side. But we don’t know who we are when we don’t put ourselves on either side. Then we just don’t know what to do. We just don’t know. We have no reference point, no hand to hold. At that point we can either freak out or settle in. Contentment is a synonym for loneliness, cool loneliness, settling down with cool loneliness. We give up believing that being able to escape our loneliness is going to bring any lasting happiness or joy or sense of well-being or courage or strength. Usually we have to give up this belief about a billion times, again and again making friends with our jumpiness and dread, doing the same old thing a billion times with awareness. Then without our even noticing, something begins to shift. We can just be lonely with no alternatives, content to be right here with the mood and texture of what’s happening.

The third kind of loneliness is avoiding unnecessary activities. When we’re lonely in a “hot” way, we look for something to save us; we look for a way out. We get this queasy feeling that we call loneliness, and our minds just go wild trying to come up with companions to save us from despair. That’s called unnecessary activity. It’s a way of keeping ourselves busy so we don’t have to feel any pain. It could take the form of obsessively daydreaming of true romance, or turning a tidbit of gossip into the six o’clock news, or even going off by ourselves into the wilderness.

The point is that in all these activities, we are seeking companionship in our usual, habitual way, using our same old repetitive ways of distancing ourselves from the demon loneliness. Could we just settle down and have some compassion and respect for ourselves? Could we stop trying to escape from being alone with ourselves? What about practicing not jumping and grabbing when we begin to panic? Relaxing with loneliness is a worthy occupation. As the Japanese poet Ryokan says, “If you want to find the meaning, stop chasing after so many things.”

Complete discipline is another component of cool loneliness. Complete discipline means that at every opportunity, we’re willing to come back, just gently come back to the present moment. This is loneliness as complete discipline. We’re willing to sit still, just be there, alone. We don’t particularly have to cultivate this kind of loneliness; we could just sit still long enough to realize it’s how things really are. We are fundamentally alone, and there is nothing anywhere to hold on to. Moreover, this is not a problem. In fact, it allows us to finally discover a completely unfabricated state of being. Our habitual assumptions—all our ideas about how things are—keep us from seeing anything in a fresh, open way. We say, “Oh yes, I know.” But we don’t know. We don’t ultimately know anything. There’s no certainty about anything. This basic truth hurts, and we want to run away from it. But coming back and relaxing with something as familiar as loneliness is good discipline for realizing the profundity of the unresolved moments of our lives. We are cheating ourselves when we run away from the ambiguity of loneliness.

Not wandering in the world of desire is another way of describing cool loneliness. Wandering in the world of desire involves looking for alternatives, seeking something to comfort us—food, drink, people. The word desire encompasses that addiction quality, the way we grab for something because we want to find a way to make things okay. That quality comes from never having grown up. We still want to go home and be able to open the refrigerator and find it full of our favorite goodies; when the going gets tough, we want to yell “Mom!” But what we’re doing as we progress along the path is leaving home and becoming homeless. Not wandering in the world of desire is about relating directly with how things are. Loneliness is not a problem. Loneliness is nothing to be solved. The same is true for any other experience we might have.

Another aspect of cool loneliness is not seeking security from one’s discursive thoughts. The rug’s been pulled; the jig is up; there is no way to get out of this one…

…go to Shambhala Sun’s web site for the rest.

Gandhi's Top 10 Fundamentals for Changing the World

1. Change
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
...
"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves."

2. Control
"Nobody can hurt me without my permission."

3. Forgiveness
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."
"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind."

4. Action
"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching."

5. The present moment
"I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following."

6. Everyone is human
"I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps."

"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err."

7. Persist
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."

8. Goodness
"I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others."

"I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people."

9. Truth
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well."

10. Development
"Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position."

Earth Rainbow Newsletter

Quotes

For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.
~ Audrey Hepburn

My beloved body... I thank you. I have often inconvenienced and frightened you. I have made you go through so much anguish... But no matter what I did you always helped me.
~ Swami Muktananda

Trust that no matter what stands before you, you can handle it by taking the high road. The high road is any action taken or any word spoken with the intention of restoring peace, invoking healing or advancing love.
~ Iyanla Vanzant

To undertake a genuine spiritual path is not to avoid difficulty but is to learn the art of making mistakes wakefully, to bring to them the transformative power of our heart.
~Jack Kornfield

The nature of the mind is such that if certain mental qualities are developed on a sound basis, they not only remain, but they also increase. In fact, once properly developed, the mind's good qualities eventually increase indefinitely. Therefore spiritual practice brings us long-term happiness and inner strength.
~Dalai Lama





Kisses are a better fate than wisdom.
~ E.E. Cummings

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.

~ Dalai Lama

A leader is a dealer in hope.

~ Napoleon Bonaparte







Végé-pâté

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups of sunflower seeds - soaked 8h
¼ cup of ground sesame seeds
1/3 cup of carrots - roughly cut
2 tablespoon of red onions - roughly cut
¼ cup of parsley - roughly chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of ginger juice
1 tablespoon of yeast
1 small clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Method:
Rince well the soaked seeds before use. Mix all the ingredients into a food processor - except the ground sesame seeds and the yeast - until getting a creamy pâté.

Then add the sesame seed powder and the yeasts and mix again.

Mushroom-walnut pâté


Ingredients:
1 cup of sunflower seeds - soaked 8h
1 cup of walnuts - soaked 8h
1 cup of mushrooms
1/2 cup of fresh parsley - roughly chopped
1/2 cup of fresh coriander - roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of Nama Shoyu
1 small clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar

Method:
Rinse well the soaked seeds before use. Reduce the walnuts in powder using a food processor, add a bit of water if needed. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until getting a creamy pâté.

This pâté can be used as stuffing for the Capuchons de Grenoble (recipe to be published soon), however, it is also delicious with crackers.

Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:
50 g of coconut oil
75 g of cocoa butter
1 1/2 cups of cocoa powder
2/3 cup of agave nectar
2 tea spoons of Vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups of coconut milk (3 1/2 cups of water + 3 cups of coconut flakes)

Preparation:
Melt the cocoa butter in a dehydrator or in a bain-marie. While it is melting, in a blender put the water and the coconut flakes to make the coconut milk and filter. Put the coconut milk in a Vita-Mix with the vanilla, agave and cocoa powder. Add the melted oil and butter and blend briefly at low speed. In a container, pour and leave in the fridge for one to two hours.

It's ready!

crudessence

http://www.crudessence.com/en/recettes/recipe-book
 
Christmas kale salad

 
Ingredients:
2 kales, hulled and roughly chopped
1 medium cauliflower cut into cubes
2 1/2 red peppers cut into cubes
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of coarsed sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1 pinch of ground black pepper

Method:
Rub the kale with the salt to tenderize it. Put it in a bowl with the other ingredients and mix. The kale is going to keep on sweating so if you want to have a less crispy salad, prepare it a few hours before serving.

 Mother Earth Salad


Ingredients:
175 g of cauliflower - cut to florets
175 g of broccoli - cut to florets
500 g of cabbage - in thin slices
3 tablespoons of olive oil
45 g of fresh coriander - finely chopped
1 small clove of garlic - pressed with a garlic press OR 1/4 cup of thin slices of onions
8 Kalamata olives - pitted and chopped
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
20 g of Goemon flakes
1 pinch of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Couscous Flower

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:
8 cups of cauliflower, shredded in food processor
3 1/2 ounces zucchini, diced
1 ounce onions, finely sliced
3 1/2 ounces parsley, chopped
5 ounces tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup currants
3 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic purée
3 tablespoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Method:
Mix all ingredients together by hand in a large salad bowl

Quotes About The Universe

We do not “come into” this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean “waves,” the universe “peoples.” Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.
~Alan Watts

It’s not that we are better than the universe, we are part of the universe. We are in the universe and the universe is in us.
~Neil deGrasse Tyson

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.
~Douglas Adams

Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature’s monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed.
~ Guillaume Apollinaire

If you want to make an apple pie, you must first create the universe
~Carl Sagan

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.
~Joseph Campbell

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
~ Buddha

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
~Dalai Lama

Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
~ Calvin to Hobbes
The following prayer speaks for itself as to the inseparability of Dharma and sustainability. This prayer was written by Tantracarya Dharmanidhi and is part of the Tantrik Foundation Practice for Trika Institute.


Prayer for the Earth

The Macchandanatha Mahasiddha Hatha Yoga Temple at Kailash Akhara, Thailand, the fully sustainable home of Adi Yoga

I, and all sentient being depend upon you Mother Earth and Father Sky. As the world of form is dependent on the formless Essence, so too am I dependent upon you. To practice Dharma is to understand myself. To understand myself is to understand my relationship to everything, including the Earth. Therefore, to practice Dharma is to be in an appropriate relationship with the Earth. I must include the principles of sustainability in my life and I must make them an integral part of my practice. I must care for the Earth and Sky in all of my activities of body, speech and mind.

As a Dharma practitioner I must demonstrate the Basic Sanity of caring for the very environment that gives me life; that makes Dharma practice possible. I pray that through my conduct reflecting environmental sustainability I may awaken as many beings as possible to the realization they must care for the Earth and Sky as a responsibility of being human.

I pray that I apply discrimination and discipline to resist the temptation to acquire things for the sake of acquiring them. May I not fall into the social trance of consumerism. I pray that I have the wisdom to know what I really need. May I want what I have, and not want what I don’t have.

Before I decide or act, may I call to mind all the possible effects that my actions of body, speech and mind may have on others and the Earth and Sky for 7 generations to come. May I remember to leave this world in better condition than I found it for the sake of all who will come after me. To change the world is difficult, to change myself is much easier. I pray for the strength and unseen support to change my habits and effect a positive change in my own environment for the benefit of all beings.

As the rivers and oceans are my blood, the stones and mountains my bones, the earth my flesh, the clouds and sky my brain and consciousness, the winds – the energy of my breath and life, as there is no separation in anything – my body is indeed the Universe.

May I protect the Earth and Sky for the benefit of all sentient beings now and in the future, may this preserve the Dharma for the benefit of all.

Creativity

To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.

 ~ Osho



Cereal Bars

http://www.coolhunting.com/food-drink/cereal-bars.php

Make your own delicious and nutritious cereal bars with this super-simple recipe

by Graham Hiemstra in Food-Drink on 25 August 2011

cereal-bars-2.jpg
Always on the look out for a healthy new snack, we called on our friend Janice Lipman from Eleven Eleven Wellness to introduce us to a new recipe. Lipman, originator of the Greeno Mojito we made together recently, introduced us to the basic Cereal Bar recipe by Tricia Williams of Food Matters. The healthful bars require minimal prep time, a short list of ingredients and most importantly taste great.
Reminding us of childhood, these straight forward bars are an organic option that's sure to be devoured by kids and adults alike. The bountiful bars hold a foundation of oats and rice cereal, held together by almond butter and honey and spiked with dried cranberries and sea salt. Below are the details on how to create a heaping serving of the delicious cereal bars.
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Ingredients
1/2 cup Almond Butter
1/2 cup honey
1 cup rolled oats—toasted
1 cup puffed brown rice cereal
1/2 cup almonds—toasted and chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
pinch of sea salt
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Instructions
Thoroughly melt the honey and almond butter in a small sauce pan, then add the melted mixture to a medium bowl containing the oats, cereal, almonds, dried cranberries, and sea salt. Stir until all is well combined. With wet hands or using a piece of wax paper press the cereal bar mixture into an 8 inch square pan that's been lightly coated in oil and lined with parchment paper. Once the mixture is pressed flat and even set the pan in the fridge for an hour to harden. Remove, cut into individual bars and enjoy.
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Once you've given the original recipe a try we recommend experimenting with other dried fruits and even substituting the cranberries with coconut or chocolate chips to turn the bar from snack to dessert.