We could learn to stop when the sun goes down and when the sun comes up. We could learn to listen to the wind; we could learn to notice that it’s raining or snowing or hailing or calm. We could reconnect with the weather that is ourselves, and we could realize that it’s sad. The sadder it is, and the vaster it is, the more our heart opens. We can stop thinking that good practice is when it’s smooth and calm, and bad practice is when it’s rough and dark. If we can hold it all in our hearts, then we can make a proper cup of tea.
~ Pema Chodron
Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.
~ Rumi
When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.
~ African Proverb
Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.
~ Lao Tzu
You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.
~ Henry David Thoreau
Lila is the Sanskrit word for Divine Play, Life is about Infinite Play... Passion, Beauty, Creativity, Freedom & Joy in the Present Moment
Live - intoxicated by the romance of the unusual
“Live the
full life of the mind,exhilarated by new ideas,
intoxicated by the romance of
the unusual.”
– Ernest Hemingway
Be the Architect of your own Life
I post things like this to remember......as I seem to forget far too often
You Are The Creator
You tell stories. You believe them.
You Are The Creator
You tell stories. You believe them.
They are just stories you have created, and will continue to create, unless
you become "aware" (conscious)
or awakened.
You are the creator.
Everything you see is actually revealing about you.
What you see in others, is inside you.
When you realize that, it will help you to SEE.
Then you will have a true UNDERSTANDING.
I am in your life because you created me.
Perhaps I am here to help you awaken.
For too long the traditional channels of communication (media, marketing,
politics, etc.) have made us think and feel small. This has served their motive
to control us and keep us subservient. So long as you believe yourself small,
you seek their product to improve your life.
Remember what it felt like to be a child, to see the world of infinite
possibility and to see no reason why our dreams can’t become reality. As adult
stargazers, we intuitively know that the stars watch over us, exerting an unseen
influence on our lives.
The shift is that we’re seeing our own lives as a story in the grander
scheme of the cosmos, a microcosm of the greater expanse of reality. Our story
is one for us to write, for us to dream up, to fantasise about, to imagine, and
finally to create from scratch. Unlimited pathways open up to us, when we
believe in our dreams.
For too long, our innate knowledge of our magnificence has been suppressed.
Now we are ready to dream up a new possibility, to take the first step to
achieving alchemical results.
Whatever you can imagine for yourself is possible, when you take action.
Open your eyes to the lessons of the cosmos, the whispers of the stars, the
caress of the wind, the wisdom of the sunshine that feeds and nourishes our
being.
When you believe in your dream, your sense of self immediately expands.
You become bigger than when you set out.
When you take the first step in search of your dream, each step is a little
miracle along the road to your dream. Strangers will support you, people you
never imagined will mysteriously appear before you to help you along the
way.
Spirit is moved by action. Spirit will support your dream.
The grander your vision, the more action will be required and the more
support from spirit will be received. When we embark on a journey to achieve our
dream, we literally and metaphysically move mountains in the cosmos.
Lives are changed by our dream. We enroll advisers, helpers, guides,
workers, servers, supporters. The greater our vision, the more we will start
believing that spirit follows our thought, that matter and spirit are one and
the same.
All greatness has been achieved by believing boldly, by imagining the
impossible, by taking the first step and each step that followed it never losing
sight of the destination.
Leap into the unknown, take a journey within and open your eyes to new
possibilities. There’s a hero within each of us, just waiting to be heard.
As we embark on the holiday season and new year 2013 awaits, I would like
to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a safe and joyous and peaceful
festive season.
This is our time. Our time to choose. Our time to flourish. Our time to
take responsibility for our lives and our beloved planet.
We can be heroes.
Kick Your Cold Fast With A Detox Bath
Via MindBodyGreen By Erin
Motz
It’s
the time of year where it seems everyone is either sick or on the verge of
getting sick. Blame it on the stale air floating around those airplane rides
home from holiday vacations or co-workers bringing it in to the office, but
either way, it’s out there!
Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com
It’s
the time of year where it seems everyone is either sick or on the verge of
getting sick. Blame it on the stale air floating around those airplane rides
home from holiday vacations or co-workers bringing it in to the office, but
either way, it’s out there!
I caught a cold over the weekend and if you’re in the same boat, I have
just the thing for you to help get you back on your feet and feeling better in
no time.
A Detox Bath.
As a yogi I hate to admit this, but I’m such a skeptic about many of the
“home remedies” out there. But take it from me - this one is a keeper.
After I did this, my cold symptoms actually subsided and I felt better the
next day. The ingredients below facilitate the elimination of toxins which
cleanse the liver, kidneys, and thyroid. In other words: it gets that cold over
with quicker.
What you’ll need:
- 1 cup epsom salt
- 1/2 c baking soda (yes, the kind you keep in your fridge!)
- 4 T ground ginger (more or less depending on your tolerance)
- Essential oils of choice (I did this twice and used lavender the first time and tea tree the second)
Directions
Fill your bathtub with hot water - as hot as you can tolerate it. Once it
fills about half way, sprinkle in your ingredients and give it a few big stirs
with your hand to help it all dissolve. Once it’s full, get in and submerge
yourself to your neck. Soak for at least 20 minutes but you can stay in as long
as 40 minutes. The first 20 minutes is to extract toxins while the second 20
minutes is when the body begins to absorb the minerals.
Once you’re out, simply towel off and rest for about 30 minutes before
showering. Do NOT do this detox every day, but instead once or twice a week and
build to three times a week from there if you want to do so.
How does it work?
Sulfate is in epsom salt and baking soda which, when absorbed in the skin,
rids the body of toxins we pick up from pollution and processed foods.
I added ginger to enhance the detox
process because it has anti-mucus properties, is a natural decongestant, and
opens the pores. Just a little word to the wise: The ginger in there will make
you sweat your ass off! Luckily for us, that’s a good thing in this case.
Sweating is one of the best (and cheapest) ways to detoxify, and if you
don’t have access to a sauna this is a fantastic alternative. Another bonus:
it’s a powerful antioxidant with
potent anti-inflammatory properties, so it’s amazing for your skin as well.
A few words of advice before getting started:
If you’ve never done this before (which was the case for me), I’d say that
20 minutes is plenty. Especially with the added ginger, the bath will cause you
to sweat more than usual and it will feel quite hot. Any longer might be too
intense for a newbie. Also, don’t feel badly if you can’t stay totally submerged
the entire time. I moved around a lot and read my Kindle most of the time and
still got all the benefits it promised.
That said, I’ll just tell you again that you will sweat. A lot. Even after
you get out of the bath, you’ll probably continue to sweat a lot for the next
hour or two, so wear light clothing or a towel so you can easily change.
Just like with any massage or sauna treatment, drink plenty of water
afterwards!
If you weigh less than 120 pounds, add less epsom and ginger (cut it in
half). Conversely, if you weigh more than 175 pounds, add a bit more to your
comfort level.
Finally, as with any home remedy,
check with your doctor before pursuing a regimen like this. And if you’re
pregnant or have any heart or liver illness, don’t try this at home.
What's your favorite go-to home remedy for getting rid of a cold?
Published January 2, 2013 at 10:21 AM
Hot or Not? Untangling Fact From Fiction in Hot Yoga
Via MindBodyGreen By Michael Taylor
Published September 3, 2012 at 12:00 PM
When we love
something, we sometimes make up fables to expound on the greatness of our love.
Warriors become stronger, forests and mountains more mystical, and of course,
our favorite kitty is clearly the next Dalai Lama!
That's ok, but there are times when it's not so useful. Yoga is a good example. One great thing about yoga is
that it's an experiential science. We all get to jump in and test it for our
selves. We are each our own best laboratory.
This means yoga isn't a great place for fables. If we make silly claims
about yoga's benefits, people will test them. When they find out they aren't
true, people think yoga is silly! So it's not so helpful to make up silly
claims. By contrast, if we hold to the truth about yoga, we're in a great
position to help many people jump in and help themselves. Yoga is great! The
ability we all have to create healthy, capable, happy lives is tremendous. A great thing with
yoga - a great thing with human capacity - is the reality can be much greater
than what we initially imagination.
I got to thinking about this following many talks with people about hot
yoga. There are a few fables going around here! As with most yoga, I think the
fables aren't helpful to people; yoga is much stronger without them. Of course,
if you love hot yoga, that's great! Do what you enjoy doing. At the same time,
it's useful to unravel some myths, so we can understand what we're doing, and
find our own way to what we need.
The mythology around hot yoga expounds on the benefits of being in a heated
room. Among many things, it says that being in a hot room increases metabolism,
makes blood vessels flexible, improves circulation, eliminates toxins,
stimulates T-cell production, and bolsters immunity.
Hospitals clearly should cut back on air conditioning!
Joking aside, these are all great outcomes that people can give themselves
through a variety of approaches. But none of them is linked to a heated room.
As with many fables, there is often some path to the truth. Let's unravel these
hot yoga fables, and find the real causes of the good health we want.
Fable 1: Your metabolism is boosted by a hot room. To the extent
that our metabolism is tied to temperature at all, it's body temp not room temp.
Regardless of room temp, your body temp remains constant. In fact, your body is
very good at maintaining this constant internal temperature, so all your systems
keep working optimally. That's why we sweat and surface vessels dilate when it's
hot; our body is working to keep our temp at a nice constant working
level.
This metabolism-boosting fable probably wants us to believe that if we need
to lose weight, walking into a hot room is the way to go. For people who really
need to lose weight, this is unfortunately misguided and just not helpful. Of
course, the weight loss we're looking for isn't water weight from sweating and
dehydrating!
Walking into a hot room doesn't raise metabolism. In some ways, external
heat encourages our bodies to slow down, actually reducing our own fires as part
of the constant-temp balancing act our bodies perform so well. By contrast, our
fires burn a little brighter when it's cold (including the shivering response),
as our bodies work to keep our temp from dropping.
What does boost metabolism is working our muscles. So if you're doing that
in hot yoga, or any yoga at all, great! But if you're walking into a hot room
and doing less than you'd do elsewhere - because all that heat puts you in
shutdown mode - you'll likely get less of what you're looking for in hot
yoga.
Solution 1: If you want to lose weight, get moving! If you
like it hot, great. If that slows you down and leads you to work less with your
body, lose the hot room and just move.
****
Fable 2: Circulation and flexibility are improved by a hot room.
These may have some tie to temperature, along with more significant factors in
your brain and diet. But on the temp front, the real factor here is warmth you
create by working your muscles. So once again we find it's not the hot room;
it's what you do with your body to create your own heat and kick-start your own
systems.
Solution 2: Move it! And stay easy while you work. Create your own
heat by moving, and see how that works for your muscles. t's also important to
address stress in your life, and in your workouts. If your mind is tense, it
signals your body to stay in defense mode. You'll be tense no matter how hot you
are and how much stretching you do. Try eating good, real foods (see Michael Pollan), do what relaxes you, and
let it go!
***
Fable 3: Toxins are eliminated by a hot room. We do have some dirt
in our pores, so sweat may work that out. But your sweat glands are not part of
your body's primary and very capable detox system: liver and kidneys, along with
lungs and colon. Your body works together as one cohesive system, and your skin
is of course an important part of that system. But if you're looking to detox, don't think that sweat will do the
trick!
Solution 3: Drink plenty of water, breathe deep, eat good foods.
Detox programs are very popular these days. Rather than stay on the
toxin-detox seesaw, take a lesson from your body as it does all this work to
stay optimal all the time! Do what you can to keep your intake a good healthy
constant. You'll feel great!
***
Fable 4: Immunity and T-cell production are improved by a hot
room. Your body raises your internal temperature - which you'll feel in a
fever - when it needs to. An infection is spotted, and we go into emergency
combat mode. Systems get to work - including your T-cells - that attack,
isolate, and eliminate. Our bodies are amazing!
Of course, we wouldn't want our body to have a fever - to be in emergency
mode - when there's no emergency. Luckily, our bodies are pretty good at doing
what they need to do. Our temperature is constant to maintain optimal normal
operating conditions. It goes up as needed to combat infections.
We've already seen that hot yoga's claim to raise our body temp isn't
right. Likewise, its claim to stimulate T-cell production through a hot room is
also off base. T-cell production begins in your bone marrow, the cells mature in
your thymus, and they are activated as needed in your body's immunologic
response.
Walking into a hot room doesn't stimulate your T-cells! If it did, hot yoga
would artificially put your body into emergency mode. Luckily, it doesn't do
that! If there is any link between a hot, moist yoga room and immunity, it may
be that these conditions are a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. This in
turn challenges your immune system! But I don't think that's the intent of this
fable.
Solution 4: Exercise, and do things that make you happy. We do know
that exercise improves both our mood and our immune response. Happiness in general is good for immunity. So
keep it moving, and do what you enjoy. In particular, try putting some variety
into your life by trying new things. It seems like there's a good connection
between variation in our routines, and the health and happiness we experience in
our lives.
***
At the end of this exploration, it looks like these hot yoga claims are
partly marketing, and partly mistaking correlation with causation. There is a
strong correlation between ice cream and drownings. But this isn't because ice
cream causes drownings. It's because as the weather gets hot, people swim more
(more drownings), and eat more ice cream. In the case of yoga, it isn't the hot
room that causes these great things to happen, it's you!
Do what you like, use your body, and take good care of yourself. Best to
leave the fables behind, because the reality of yoga - and of your body's
capacity to do amazing things - are both great all on their own.
SAFFRON
Indian
Saffron Rice
|
 |
|
"White rice is sauteed in
butter and then simmered with saffron infused water. The secret of obtaining
fluffy rice is in having the rice hot enough that when the boiling water is
added it does not stop boiling."
Ingredients:
1/8 teaspoon powdered saffron
2 cups boiling water, divided
2 tablespoons butter
|
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice,
not
rinsed
1 teaspoon
salt
|
Directions:
| 1. | Steep the saffron in 1/2 cup boiling water. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. | In a skillet that can be tightly covered, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the rice and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until the rice begins to absorb the butter and becomes opaque, but do not brown the rice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. | Quickly pour in the remaining 1 1/2
cups boiling water along with the saffron water. Cover immediately, reduce heat
to low, and cook 20 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. For best
results, do not remove the lid while the rice is cooking.
"It sounds fancy, but this
is a simple and delicious meal you can easily make for any occasion. Feel free
to add any vegetables you like and make a meal out of it."
Ingredients:
Directions:
|
Summer Drinks
Sangria! Sangria!
Strawberry-cucumber libation
Bubbles: Sometimes, nothing else will do the trick. Enjoy them (responsibly) with a refreshing, booze-free libation. Sweetened with agave syrup instead of artificial additives or an overdose of sugar, the effervescent cooler combines cucumbers, summer’s ripe strawberries and a hint of lime. And while seltzer gives it the perfect amount of fizz, if you topped the drink with a splash of sparkling wine, well, we wouldn't tell anyone.
Strawberry-Cucumber Cooler
Recipe from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen
Yield: Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons agave syrup or granulated sugar
Juice of 1 lime
Ice cubes
8 medium strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
One 2-inch piece cucumber, thinly sliced
Seltzer water
 |
|
"The BEST sangria recipe
I've been able to hone to perfection! If you like a sweeter Sangria, use ginger
ale in place of club soda."
Ingredients:
1/2 cup brandy
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup frozen lemonade concentrate
1/3 cup orange juice
1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red
wine
1/2 cup triple sec
|
1 lemon, sliced into rounds
1 orange, sliced into rounds
1 lime, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup white sugar (optional)
8 maraschino cherries
2 cups carbonated water
(optional)
|
Directions:
| 1. | In a large pitcher or bowl, mix together the brandy, lemon juice, lemonade concentrate, orange juice, red wine, triple sec, and sugar. Float slices of lemon, orange and lime, and maraschino cherries in the mixture. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor. For a fizzy sangria, add club soda just before serving. |
Strawberry-cucumber libation
Bubbles: Sometimes, nothing else will do the trick. Enjoy them (responsibly) with a refreshing, booze-free libation. Sweetened with agave syrup instead of artificial additives or an overdose of sugar, the effervescent cooler combines cucumbers, summer’s ripe strawberries and a hint of lime. And while seltzer gives it the perfect amount of fizz, if you topped the drink with a splash of sparkling wine, well, we wouldn't tell anyone.
Strawberry-Cucumber Cooler
Recipe from the Tasting Table Test Kitchen
Yield: Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons agave syrup or granulated sugar
Juice of 1 lime
Ice cubes
8 medium strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
One 2-inch piece cucumber, thinly sliced
Seltzer water
DIRECTIONS
1. In a small bowl, stir together the agave syrup and lime juice. (If using granulated sugar, whisk the liquid until the sugar is dissolved, about 30 seconds.)
2. Fill 4 glasses with 2 or 3 ice cubes each. Divide the strawberry and cucumber slices among the glasses. Add 1 tablespoon of the sweetened lime juice to each glass, top with seltzer and enjoy!
1. In a small bowl, stir together the agave syrup and lime juice. (If using granulated sugar, whisk the liquid until the sugar is dissolved, about 30 seconds.)
2. Fill 4 glasses with 2 or 3 ice cubes each. Divide the strawberry and cucumber slices among the glasses. Add 1 tablespoon of the sweetened lime juice to each glass, top with seltzer and enjoy!
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