Category Archives: Body, Mind & Spirit

Lucid Dreaming & Consciousness

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Lucid Dreaming as a Gateway to Spiritual Awakening

Lucid Dreaming Gate to Spiritual Awakening

24th June 2016

By Frank M. Wanderer, Ph.D.

Guest writer for Wake Up World

Allow me to draw your attention to an apparently surprising thing. If I told you that now, when you are reading these lines, you are in fact asleep, you would certainly believe that I have gone mad.

You are awake, you are concentrating your attention to reading, and you are aware of your environment as well. You can see the furniture of your room, you can hear the call of the birds from the nearby forest. You are also aware of your thoughts and emotions. How can anyone claim that you are asleep at this very moment?

Naturally, you – just like everyone else – sleeps at night. Yes, sometimes you see dreams while you sleep, but right now it is daytime, you are awake. So how could you see dreams?

You Imagine a Whole World Around Yourself

I believe that you do not only sleep at night, but also during the daytime. I believe that in your present state of consciousness, your greatest illusion is that you think you are awake. I believe that in your present existence, your greatest illusion is when you think that you are alert. What I see is that in your present state of consciousness you are asleep, and at present you are dreaming, and what you see and hear are all parts of your dream.

Your nighttime sleep is only different from your daytime sleep in that in the night your dreams are less active. During the day, you imagine a whole world around you, and you play an active role in that dream. Your personal history takes place in that world, and identifying with that world shapes your personal identity.

At present, you are dreaming that as a part of your personal history you are reading these lines while identifying with the role of the spiritual seeker, and you are outraged by what you are actually reading.

The question may arise, ‘Why do I claim that you are asleep and dreaming now?’. Well, from the state of consciousness I call Alertness, I can see that mostly, you are asleep, you believe yourself to be a separate self, you are a captive of the works of your mind.

You Are Not Present

What is the evidence for me to say that you are now asleep and, as a citizen of a dreamland, you are dreaming that you are awake?

It is because you are not present. To be present means that you are fully alert, attentive, and conscious in the present moment. Whatever you do, you do that fully consciously, you focus your entire attention on that particular activity.

Do you feel free to declare that you are present in every moment of your life?

What does it mean to be awake? It has happened to all of us that we have come under the spell of a moment, at some time during our life. A beautiful landscape, a sunset, a beautiful piece of art, the rhythm of music enchanted us. It may even happen that we are just lost in the silence of a peaceful moment. The identification with the forms and shapes loosens a little bit for a short while, and in that instant, we may experience an entirely different state of Consciousness.

You Live in a Separate World

How deep you sleep may depend on how realistic you find your dreams, how much you identify with your identity embedded in your personal history. The less alert you are, and the deeper you submerge into your dreams, the more isolated, solitary and individualistic you will become.

Liberation Through Lucid Living - Consciousness Within the DreamEvery sleeper –including you– has a separate world, only those who exist in the state of Conscious Alertness (the true Lucid Dreaming) have a common, shared reality. All those different and separate worlds are created by the mind, which generates the state of separateness: the Ego, which appears as the focus of our identification with our thoughts and emotions. Thus everybody has a separate identity, personal history, individual world view and methods of action.

Sometimes suffering alarms you from your sleep, but then you hasten to return to it, and start a new dream, a new objective in life, new ideals, passion, ambition that confirms your connection with your identity, rooted in your personal history.

The Reasons of Your Sleep

The reason of you sleeping is that you are not alert, only awake. Only one dimension of Alertness is present in you. Although you are able to focus your attention on your internal emotions and your environment, in your present state of Consciousness you are still powerfully identified with your mind and its functions.

You are therefore drifting on the stormy ocean of your thoughts and emotions day by day, and the space necessary for the emergence of a contemplating Witness is missing from you. You still identify with your thoughts and emotions. These generate the dreams of the Mind, in which you live as a separate self, and try to find the ways of safely navigating your life on the stormy sea.

Longing for Freedom

In this separate state of Consciousness, the lack of Alertness may appear as a desire for freedom. This desire emerges from your real self, as your mind remembers its origins. This atavistic memory of the ancient past is the quiet attraction that will eventually take you back to Silence.

This deep desire will only cease if you become alert again, that is, you will not be awake but also alert. Then the Consciousness awakens to its own existence in the human form you at present call yourself.

Only giving up the struggle with the thoughts and emotions and the recognition of the futility of insisting on them will bring you the real freedom, The freedom of independence of the functions of the mind.

Alertness, the awakened Consciousness, the world of internal silence are all beyond the functions of the mind. If you wish to reach beyond the identification with your thoughts and emotions, if you recognize the functions of the mind and the intensity of your identification with them loosens, you may become alert again, in the quiet, pure space of Consciousness.

In this way, the third dimension of Alertness, that is, the contemplating Consciousness, appears in your life. This the original state of our existence, the pure Consciousness, the state of the witnessing Presence.

This article was excerpted from the new book by Frank M. Wanderer, Ego – Alertness – Consciousness: The Path to Your Spiritual Home.

from:    http://wakeup-world.com/2016/06/24/lucid-dreaming-as-a-gate-to-spiritual-awakening/

Time to Exercise the Imagination

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Visualization: Are You Using Your Imagination Wisely?

By Christina Lavers
Contributing writer for Wake Up World

Imagination is our inner vision. It is the magical bridge between the everyday and the ethereal realm, the gateway between the finite and the infinite. Children naturally have vivid imaginations and use this innate faculty to explore and animate life. With the advent of science and rationality, a clear distinction between the fanciful and the concrete came to define our understanding of reality. The magical enchantment of the world largely receded into the cracks and humans were left to operate within the confines of the ordinary, the quantifiable, and the normal. We came to see imagination as something of little value, to be left behind in childhood.

Today we are rediscovering the importance of imagination. Quantum physics has transformed our understanding of the landscape of reality and our role in it. Quantum theory has forced the scientific community to question the assumption that consciousness cannot affect external reality. Increasingly, evidence demonstrates that due to the intimate way we are energetically entangled with all that exists, our thoughts do have the ability to affect our physical world. As a result more people are opening to the possibility that we can indeed use the power of our minds to influence what unfolds in our external reality.

An important way that we can use imagination to improve our quality of life is through visualization. Visualization is a cognitive tool using our imagination as a vehicle to explore an idea, action, or outcome. As a practice visualization can be used to rehearse, investigate, or induce a particular state of mind. For example we could imagine ourselves engaged in our dream job, picture ourselves in a highly relaxing scenario, or watch ourselves conquering a fear. The more we repeat the process and the richer we make the experience, the more entrenched the positive scenario becomes in our subconscious and thus the more likely it will be to manifest in reality. Of course there are many factors that influence us at unconscious levels. So, while visualization cannot guarantee any particular outcome, it is still seen as effective enough that today many professionals and athletes use this technique to help prepare them for events and challenging circumstances.

One of the reasons that visualization is such a powerful tool is that the subconscious and physical brain are not able to distinguish between what we experience in our external reality and what we see in our mind’s eye. It has been established that mental images (imagining/visualizing) activate the same parts of the brain as actual sensory input – this means that these parts of the brain can’t differentiate between real and imagined input. The brain will respond by releasing the same chemicals into the body regardless of whether the stimulus is real or imagined.

Here is an amazing example of what that can mean for us: Guang Yue, an exercise psychologist from Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, compared a group of volunteers who performed physical workouts with another group who only imagined doing virtual exercise in their heads. He found that a 30% muscle increase in the group who engaged in physical movement. However, the group of participants who only imagined doing the weight training exercises increased muscle strength by almost half as much (13.5%).

In another similar study, Brian Clark from Ohio University recruited 29 volunteers and wrapped their wrists in surgical casts for an entire month. Throughout this period, fifty percent of the volunteers thought about exercising their immobilized wrists. For 11 minutes a day, 5 days a week, they focused on seeing themselves flexing their muscles. When the casts were removed, the group that imagined doing exercises were found to have wrist muscles that were twice as strong than the group that had done nothing.

Another story that illustrates the power of mental visualization is described by Wenger in his book, “The Einstein Factor”. Wegner describes an American soldier who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. For more than seven years this man was confined alone in a tiny cell with barely enough room to stretch his limbs. In order to maintain his sanity he played a detailed game of eighteen hole golf in his mind every single day. When he was finally released and allowed to return to the United States he found that without having stepped foot on an actual course for so many years, he managed to cut 20 strokes off his game (which is apparently pretty amazing!) just through using his imagination to visualize himself playing golf.

One of the reasons that visualization is such a powerful tool is that it allows us to engage and interact with our unconscious. While science is able to document some of what we are capable of at the deeper levels, there is still an enormous amount of mystery around what the unconscious actually is. It is not something that can be dissected and examined with a microscope. We may have mapped so much of our physical world, but our internal one is still largely uncharted territory. Many believe that the unconscious is in fact the wellspring of our personal reality and this is why visualization, which uses imagery and feeling to communicate with the unconscious, is so effective

However, when we understand that visualization is a tool that can help us shape our reality, it becomes clear that it is important to use it wisely. Unfortunately, for a majority of adults’ imaginative skills are most often used unconsciously, in conjunction with worry.

While it is important to allow feelings to be expressed, and a little worrying is part of a balanced approach to life because it can act as a trigger to propel us into action, all too often it is given so much energy that it becomes a destructive force in our life. If we see visualization as a tool to magnify our desires and communicate with our unconscious, we can see why it is so important to avoid coupling it with worry. Instead of floating down the stream of our imagination on the boat of trouble and trepidation, we would be better off using it consciously and constructively to reinforce a desirable outcome.

One of the most important conditions for successful visualization is to cultivate a relaxed state of mind. When our brains are operating at the soothing alpha level we are less likely to feel stress or engage in negative thinking. When we combine the relaxed alpha state, which encourages our brains to produce ‘happy’ chemicals (endorphins, serotonin etc), with vivid imagery and feeling, we create a powerful tool for making our dreams become reality.

Tips to Help You Visualize

Focus on the feelings (e.g. how do you feel being successful at a particular venture), as this is where the key communication is taking place. The more we can cultivate real feeling the more powerful the exercise will be.

Include as much sensory information and details as possible. Use smells, textures, colours, emotions to enrich and deepen the experience.

Repetition is helpful as the unconscious responds to the messages it receives consistently. (Which is why habitual negative self-talk can have such damaging consequences on what we create in our reality). However, make sure not to just go through the motions in your mind… remember that rich feeling is key.

Alpha states, which create ideal conditions for visualization can be encouraged through relaxing activities such as listening to soothing music (binaural beats are particularly effective), walking in nature, meditating, and dancing.

from:     http://www.zengardner.com/visualization-using-imagination-wisely/

Considering Acupuncture

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Acupuncture: Why It Works

 By Dr. Mercola

More than 3 million Americans receive acupuncture each year, and its use is increasing.1 While there are a variety of acupuncture techniques, those typically used in the U.S. incorporate traditions from China, Japan and Korea and involve penetrating your skin with a thin needle at certain points on your body.

The needle is then stimulated by hand or electrically.2 Acupuncture has been in use for thousands of years around the globe, and it has withstood the test of time because it works to safely relieve many common health complaints.

How it works has remained largely a mystery, but last year researchers revealed a biochemical reaction that may be responsible for some of acupuncture’s beneficial effects.

Scientists Reveal How Acupuncture Reduces Inflammation and Pain

An animal study looking into the effects of acupuncture on muscle inflammation revealed that manual acupuncture downregulates (or turns off) pro-inflammatory cells known as M1 macrophages. At the same time, it upregulates (or activates) anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages, thereby reducing pain and swelling.3

This is an effective strategy because M2 macrophages are a source of anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 (IL-10), a cytokine involved in immune response. It’s thought that upregulating M2 macrophages leads to an increase in IL-10, which subsequently helps relieve pain and inflammation. The Epoch Times reported:4

“Acupuncture literally flips a switch wherein initial inflammatory responses are reduced and the secondary healing responses are promoted.

M1 macrophage downregulation and M2 macrophage upregulation triggered by acupuncture was positively associated with reductions in muscle pain and inflammation.”

It’s likely that acupuncture works via a variety of mechanisms. In 2010, for instance, it was found that acupuncture activates pain-suppressing receptors and increased the concentration of the neurotransmitter adenosine in local tissues.5

Adenosine slows down your brain’s activity and induces sleepiness. According to a Nature Neuroscience press release:6

“ … [T]he authors propose a model whereby the minor tissue injury caused by rotated needles triggers adenosine release, which, if close enough to pain-transmitting nerves, can lead to the suppression of local pain.”

Acupuncture Influences Your Body on Multiple Levels

With documented use dating back more than 2,500 years, acupuncture is based on the premise that there are more than 2,000 acupuncture points in the human body, which are connected by bioenergetic pathways known as meridians.

According to traditional medicine, it is through these pathways that Qi, or energy, flows, and when the pathway is blocked the disruptions can lead to imbalances and chronic disease.

Acupuncture is proven to impact a number of chronic health conditions, and it may work, in part, by stimulating your central nervous system to release natural chemicals that alter bodily systems, pain and other biological processes. Evidence suggests that acupuncture may also work by:7

  • Stimulating the conduction of electromagnetic signals, which may release immune system cells or pain-killing chemicals
  • Activation of your body’s natural opioid system, which may help reduce pain or induce sleep
  • Stimulation of your hypothalamus and pituitary gland, which impact numerous body systems
  • Change in the secretion of neurotransmitters and neurohormones, which may positively influence brain chemistry

Acupuncture May Relieve Pain From Knee Osteoarthritis

Acupuncture is often used for the treatment of chronic pain, and it may be particularly useful for pain from knee osteoarthritis.

In a study by researchers from the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture received five times a week for four weeks significantly reduced pain and improved stiffness in patients with knee osteoarthritis.8

In this study, the improvements increased even more when acupuncture was combined with Chinese massage called Tui Na. Other research has also shown benefits, including one of the longest and largest studies on the topic to date.

More than 550 patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis took part in the 26-week trial. The participants were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments: acupuncture, sham acupuncture, or self-help strategies recommended by the Arthritis Foundation (the latter served as a control group).

Significant differences in response were seen by week eight and 14, and at the end of the trial, the group receiving real acupuncture had a 40 percent decrease in pain and a nearly 40 percent improvement in function compared to baseline assessments — a 33 percent difference in improvement over the sham group.9

Acupuncture for Relief of High Blood Pressure

There is some evidence that acupuncture may help lower high blood pressure while also relieving associated anxiety, headaches, dizziness, palpitations and tinnitus.

It’s known that high blood pressure leads to elevated concentrations of inflammation-causing tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and TNF-α-stimulated endothelin (ET), peptides involved in constricting blood vessels and raising blood pressure.10,11

It’s thought that acupuncture may downregulate TNF-α and ET, thereby reducing blood pressure. In another study of patients with high blood pressure, 30 minutes of electroacupuncture (in which the needles are stimulated with electricity) a week led to slight declines in blood pressure.12

Study co-author Dr. John Longhurst, a cardiologist at the University of California, Irvine, told WebMD, “Potentially, blood pressure can be kept low with a monthly follow-up treatment.” He continued:13

“A noticeable drop in blood pressure was observed in 70 percent of the patients treated at the effective points, an average of 6 to 8 mm Hg for systolic blood pressure [the top number] and 4 mm Hg for diastolic blood pressure [the lower number].”

Acupuncture Even Works for Fibromyalgia Pain and Pain in Children

One of the most common uses for acupuncture is in treating chronic pain. One analysis of the most robust studies available concluded that acupuncture has a clear effect in reducing chronic pain, more so than standard pain treatment.14

Study participants receiving acupuncture reported an average 50 percent reduction in pain, compared to a 28 percent pain reduction for standard pain treatment without acupuncture.

Even fibromyalgia pain, which can be difficult to treat and is associated with sleep problems, fatigue and depression, may be improved.

In one study, 10 weeks of acupuncture decreased pain scores in fibromyalgia patients by an average of 41 percent, compared with 27 percent in those who received a sham procedure.15

The pain relief lasted for at least 1 year, leading researchers to conclude, “ … [T]he use of individualized acupuncture in patients with fibromyalgia is recommended.” Acupuncture also appears to be a safe and effective treatment for relieving chronic pain in children.

In a study of 55 children with chronic pain, those who received eight acupuncture sessions (each lasting about 30 minutes) reported significant reductions in pain and improved quality of life.16

Acupuncture for Depression, Cancer Patients and More

Acupuncture’s benefits extend to a myriad of other health conditions as well. Research suggests acupuncture works as well as counseling for treating depression, for instance.17 It may also improve fatigue, anxiety and depression in cancer patients in as little as eight weeks — and much more.18

The World Health Organization (WHO) conducted an extensive review and analysis of clinical trials related to acupuncture and reported the procedure has been proven effective for the following diseases:19

Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever) Biliary colic
Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)  Acute bacillary dysentery Primary dysmenorrhea
Acute epigastralgia (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm) Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders) Headache
Essential hypertension Primary hypotension Induction of labor
Knee pain Leukopenia Low back pain
Correction of malposition of fetus Morning sickness Nausea and vomiting
Neck pain Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction) Periarthritis of shoulder
Postoperative pain Renal colic Rheumatoid arthritis
Sciatica Sprain Stroke
Tennis elbow

Additionally, acupuncture has also shown a therapeutic effect for treating the following diseases and conditions, which range from premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and addictions to whooping cough, although further research is needed:

Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm) Acne vulgaris Alcohol dependence and detoxification Bell’s palsy
Bronchial asthma Cancer pain Cardiac neurosis Chronic cholecystitis, with acute exacerbation
Cholelithiasis Competition stress syndrome Closed craniocerebral injury Non-insulin-dependent  diabetes mellitus
Earache Epidemic hemorrhagic fever Simple epistaxis  (without generalized or local disease) Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
Female infertility Facial spasm Female urethral syndrome Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
Gastrokinetic disturbance Gouty arthritis Hepatitis B virus carrier status Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)
Hyperlipaemia Hypo-ovarianism Insomnia Labor pain
Lactation deficiency Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic Ménière disease Postherpetic neuralgia
Neurodermatitis Obesity Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence Osteoarthritis
Pain due to endoscopic examination Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal syndrome) Postextubation in children
Postoperative convalescence Premenstrual syndrome Chronic prostatitis Pruritus
Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome Primary Raynaud syndrome Recurrent lower urinary tract infection Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
Traumatic retention of urine Schizophrenia Drug-induced Sialism Sjögren syndrome
Sore throat (including tonsillitis) Acute spine pain Stiff neck Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
Tietze syndrome Tobacco dependence Tourette syndrome Chronic ulcerative colitis
Urolithiasis Vascular dementia Whooping cough (pertussis)

Are Certain Types of Acupuncture Better Than Others?

Similar benefits have been found for different types of acupuncture treatment. For instance, sometimes the stimulation of acupuncture points is done using electricity, lasers or acupressure (the use of pressure to stimulate acupuncture points).

The term acupuncture is often used to describe all of these modalities, as each has shown similar benefits. This means that if you like the idea of trying a natural, ancient technique like acupuncture, but don’t like the idea of having needles inserted into your body, there are needle-free alternatives, such as the Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT, you can try that may offer many of the same benefits.

If you decide to try out traditional acupuncture, be aware that the success of your treatment depends on the expertise of your practitioner. While there are acupuncturists that have general specialties, there are also those that specialize in different health conditions, such as pain relief, depression, infertility or neurological disorders. Choose an acupuncturist that is experienced in your area of need who will work with you to develop a plan for healing.

from:    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/06/23/how-does-acupuncture-work.aspx

Some Natural Approaches to Pain Managment

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3 Natural Pain Relievers That Are As Powerful As Drugs, Without The Side Effects

| June 20, 2016 

3 Natural Pain Relievers That Are As Powerful As Drugs, Without The Side Effects

by Derek Henry,

Unfortunately, acute or chronic pain is something that everyone in their life experiences at one time or another. Even though this is a powerful reminder from the body that something is either healing or going terribly wrong, a way to manage the pain is often required in order to live a functional lifestyle.

The first resort to manage this type of pain has typically been prescriptions or over the counter drugs. These medications do have side effects, however, and people are beginning to realize there are more natural solutions that can be as effective or more powerful than drugs. Here are 3 of them.

Boswellia

Often called Indian Frankincense, boswellia originates in the dry areas of India, Africa, and the Mediterranean. It is a remarkable plant and is becoming better known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is the root of chronic pain. The unique acids (boswellic acids) block the overproduction of cytokinetic activity in damaged tissues while enhancing blood flow to the joints. This combination has also been shown to increase joint mobility and loosen stiff joints.

Boswellia has shown great success at reducing inflammatory conditions such as Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis, and other painful conditions. Many studies have shown that it is as effective as NSAID’s, which are the most commonly prescribed drug for issues related to inflammation and chronic pain.

Turmeric

Another powerful anti-inflammatory food with exceptional pain relief properties, turmeric is an ancient spice commonly used in Indian and Asian cuisine. Turmeric has shown to work better than many other pain-killing drugs at relieving arthritis, joint pain, stiffness, muscle spasms, and other chronic pain conditions.

A natural painkiller and COX-2 inhibitor, turmeric has been shown to be a safe and effective remedy due to its ability to not only stop inflammation, but to suppress nerve related pain as well. This makes it exceptional for those who suffer from fibromyalgia.

Astaxanthin

Astaxanthin (asta-zan-thin) is a deep red coloured phytonutrient synthesized by microalgae called Haematococcus, and is also known as the “King of Carotenoids”. It’s grown in fresh water using sophisticated techniques that encourage the algae to grow its own powerful medicines protecting it from oxidation, UV radiation, and other environmental stressors.

Even though astaxanthin may not be as powerful as leading pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories, it is found to be one of the strongest ones in nature. Several double blind, placebo controlled animal and clinical trials shows that astaxanthin naturally inhibits many of the known inflammation mediators, which eases inflammation and pain without side effects.

It has been used effectively for joint pain, muscle recovery, and other painful conditions. Since astaxanthin is fat soluble (unlike most antioxidants) it gets carried by fat molecules directly to your muscles, tissues, and organs where it is needed most, like your brain, breast tissue, prostate tissue, skeletal muscles, and retina.

Of course, the effectiveness of these remedies relies on several factors, including the individual’s current lifestyle and dietary habits. To learn from someone who has recovered from debilitating pain naturally with a completely holistic approach (who now enjoys radiant health on a daily basis), check out Advice from a Survivor – How To Live A Healthy Life. If you’re looking for to eliminate the source of pain, the first step is almost always to Balance Your Inner Ecosystem.

Source: http://www.healingthebody.ca

from:

Some Hints from Your Dreams

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7 Important Dream Symbols You Should Never Ignore

| June 19, 2016 |

7 Important Dream Symbols You Should Never Ignore

via HigherPerspectives,

1. Boxes.

Dreaming of boxes tends to mean that you feel there is something hidden away from you. An empty box probably indicates a sense of disappointment. Lots of boxes means you’re having trouble processing your feelings and need to hide them away…

2. Phones.

A ringing phone means that some part of your personality is finally getting in touch with you the way it needs to. There could be an insightful situation right around the corner. If you don’t answer the ringing phone, it may be that you’re choosing to ignore these messages.

3. Flying.

Flying in a dream is typically classified as a lucid dream. These types of dreams are a wake up call from your subconscious mind. Flying can mean you’re having difficulties in your waking life that you are trying to rise above.

4. Moon dreams.

A dream with the moon in it indicates a hidden, unseen, or perhaps slightly revealed creative side of you that’s trying to escape.

5. Roads.

Roads are a symbol of your journey through life. If you dream of a clear, paved road or path, you may see your journey going forward as pretty simple. If it’s murky, foggy, and hard to navigate, you may fear your future.

6. Flowers.

To see a budding flower indicates that new opportunities will soon present themselves. Sprouting plants might mean that some of the seeds you’ve sewn are about to spring to life. Dead flowers mean a chapter of your life may be ending.

7. Water.

Water in your dreams tends to reflect your ambition in life. If you keep dreaming about the ocean, it may be time to take on bigger opportunities and take risks. If you dream of shallow streams and small ponds, it may be a sign you’re over-reaching.

 

from:    http://www.bodymindsoulspirit.com/7-important-dream-symbols-you-should-never-ignore/

Using Crystals

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A Guide To Selecting And Using The Right Crystals For You

| June 18, 2016

The natural processes of the universe achieve some amazing results, and nowhere is this more evident than in crystals. However, they are much more than beautiful decoration.

It can take millennia for a crystal to form inside the Earth, and as such they are containers holding the power of the universe within. Shamans and mystics the world over have long known about the seemingly magical quality of these minerals.

Each type of crystal holds different powers, so when going to purchase one there are many things to consider.

  • You might ask yourself if you will be wearing or if it will be decoration.
  • Will the crystal be held in a sacred place?
  • Will you be using it to manifest spiritual growth?

Common Gemstones And Their Uses:

  • Clear Quartz: Promotes thought energy and scatters negativity. It is a natural batter, receiving, storing and giving off energy. Quartz can be used for higher-dimensional communication and is excellent for meditation.
  • Amethyst: Has a calming influence, is protective and inspirational. It is good for dream states and also good for connecting to higher vibrations and meditating.
  • Moonstone: Promotes intuition and perception. It also balances emotions, induces confidence and is an inspirational source in love and business.
  • Citrine: Promotes self-esteem, mental clarity and aligns one with their higher self. Citrine also attracts abundance.
  • Rose Quartz: Is good for balancing and healing emotions. It also stimulates the heart chakra, encouraging compassion and harmony while eliminating anger and jealousy.
  • Kyanite: Aligns and strengthens the astral body and stimulates the third eye chakra. Kyanite also balances yin and yang and helps to clear blockages.

How To Choose:

Crystals all emit energy, so it is important to be open and have a positive intention to draw you to the stone that suits your personal needs. For this reason it is preferable to browse a reputable crystal shop rather than using an online resource.

You may find that a certain stone draws you to it. If you are purchasing your first crystal, this could be the one which starts your collection. Often, our intuition will pull us toward the gem that will benefit us the most, but reflecting on the purpose of the crystal is often vital to making a good match.

Obviously, if the stone is to be worn, you will want a size that is comfortable, but if it is intended to provide energy to a whole room or structure, you will want it to be large enough to fill that space.

When you find a stone that you feel is pulling you toward it, pick it up. The feeling it gives you is important in the selection process. Close your eyes and attempt to sense the energy that the crystal is radiating. Take a moment to meditate upon its background, age, origination, and what it went through to get to this point in your hand.

 from:    http://www.bodymindsoulspirit.com/guide-selecting-using-crystals/

Chakras & Crystals

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Why Crystals Heal & Which Ones To Use for Chakra Balancing

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Laying gemstones on the body for healing purposes has been practiced across numerous cultures for thousands of years.  But why?  What could a seemingly inert stone possibly do that could benefit the body?

The answer lies in a scientific phenomenon called the piezoelectric effect.  To avoid getting into too much technical jargon, you can best understand the piezoelectric effect by considering a quartz watch.  When slightly bent, a small piece of quartz puts out a constant voltage that keeps a watch running with phenomenal accuracy.

Crystals and gemstones do the same for us.  They put out a small, charge that interacts with our biomagnetic field and creates more harmony and balance.

Every stone has a unique vibration, just as every person does.  For this reason, the particular stones needed for balancing the chakras will vary somewhat from person to person.  For this reason, you see a lot of different suggestions across various chakra books.

The best way to determine if a particular gemstone is good for you or for a specific chakra is to “test” it by placing it on your body and checking in with your body’s subtle (or sometimes, not-so-subtle) response.

chakra stones You may even want to have a friend place different stones on your body while your eyes are closed, and determine which ones feel the best on each chakra.

Always trust your body’s response.  If a stone feels bad on the body, remove it – unless you recognize that “bad” feeling as a clearing, and feel an instinctive desire to stay with the stone.

A very simple, but generally good rule for chakra balancing is that if a stone is the color of the chakra, it’s good for boosting and balancing that chakra.  Hence, the first chakra stones tend to be red-toned, the second chakra stones orange-toned, and so on. Certain stones, like quartz, come in many different hues and can be used for all of the chakras depending on its shade.

When picking which gemstones to use for each chakra, secondary colors should be considered.  Two common ones are: black for the root chakra and pink for the heart chakra.

This does not mean that every stone that heals a particular chakra will be the primary or secondary color of that chakra.  There are exceptions. Still, there is so much correspondence between the gemstones’ color and the chakras they balance, that it is a great “rule of thumb” – especially for anyone who doesn’t know a lot about rocks.

If you wish to experiment with some gemstones to see which ones feel right for you, here is a list of some and the chakras with which they are associated:

First Chakra – Muladhara – Root

Garnet

Ruby

Hematite

Red Jasper

Black or Red Onyx

Bloodstone

Dravite

Obsidian

Pyrite

Smoky Quartz

Second Chakra – Svadisthana – Sacral

Carnelian

Amber

Moonstone

Tiger Iron (also 1st)

Mookalite

Chalcedony

Sunstone (also 3rd)

Third Chakra – Manipura – Solar Plexus

Topaz

Tiger Eye

Citrine

Hessonite

Zincite

Ametrine (also 6th & 7th)

Heulandite

Fourth Chakra – Anahata – Heart

Jade

Emerald

Rose Quartz

Aventurine

Malachite

Kunzite

Moldavite

Unakite

Fifth Chakra – Visuddha – Throat

Soladite

Blue Agate

Turquoise

Blue Topaz

Celestite

Chrysocolla

Larimar

Kyamite

Amazonite

Sixth Chakra – Ajna – Brow (3rd Eye)

Sapphire

Azurite

Lapis Lazuli

Charoite

Labradorite

Seventh Chakra – Sahasrara – Crown

Amethyst (also 6th)

Clear Quartz

Danburite

Iolite

Opal

Diamond

from:    http://consciouslifenews.com/crystals-heal-chakra-balancing/1179779/

Finding Resolution in Acceptance

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My Hellish Health Journey & The One Thing That is Changing Everything

By Elle –

SHARMINI GANA
Collective Evolution

Finally, after over a decade of dealing with multiple undiagnosed physical and emotional symptoms (due to chronic stress, I later realized), I recently experienced a massive shift that is changing EVERYTHING — my health, my emotions, my life.

I was frustrated, exhausted, and suicidal, ready to call it quits many times over the last few years. It was the most painful experience, yet also the most educational, now that I am coming out on the other side of such a dark period. I discovered that a major part of healing, just like illness, is SELF created.

Yes — you create your own pain and suffering and your own joy and healing. Sound crazy? Maybe, but there are a ton of books and research showing that the mind-body connection exists and impacts us immensely. How you feel about yourself plays a huge role in illness and in wellness.

You Play A Role In Your Health

You are a  powerful creator, whether you realize it or not. The stories and beliefs that dominate your mind (we will call these mind programs) all day dictate how you feel and create situations and experiences for you to grow and learn.

Many of us are carrying negative self talk programs as a result of our familial, cultural, and societal influences. Our race, culture, gender, genetics, and background (socio-economic status, etc.) all influence us and the way we look at ourselves and life.

As a whole, the world we live in is filled with fear. From a young age, most of us are told “be careful, don’t do that, watch out” and many other negative phrases, repeatedly, which in return builds up a fear-based foundation of belief systems in us.

We learn to be very cautious, afraid, and obedient, so we stay within our box, confined to a limited way of living. We are not able to think beyond the walls that we have been trained exist all around us. This causes us to react with fear, worry, and anxiety when things happen to us or in our world.

Planetary Energy Shifts

Now, as the energy on the planet has shifted to being more open — we are questioning and rebelling against the status quo and the younger generation is continually pushing the envelope on our perceived limits — things are changing and more of us are becoming aware of this negative, fear driven belief system that we have been surrounded by and embedded in.

The plethora of Awakening information available online, although overwhelming at times and sometimes even controversial, has certainly played a major role in shifting things, as has social media, which has made it possible to share information on multiple platforms instantaneously, thus reaching more and more people.

Going back to the fear based belief system many of us carry, it is clear that a strong component of this is Negative Self Talk. It’s amazing to realize that you are not alone in feeling not good enough, fraudulent (even when you are “successful”), unworthy, and unconfident. These emotions create anxiety, fear, and worry, and can eventually lead to depression.

Many of us experience these feelings on a daily basis, and unbeknownst to us, these beliefs form the basis for our physical and emotional health. Of course other lifestyle factors come into play as well, such as what and how often we eat, how active we are, how we deal with our emotions/challenges, and how high our stress levels are. But there is now more and more research showing the importance of the Mind-Body Connection; it is undeniable.

How Do You Feel About You?

I will go out on a limb and say, in my experience, the biggest factor in determining our physical and emotional health is how we feel about ourselves. Yes, you read that right. How you feel about yourself dictates what kind of messages you tell yourself all day.

How would you like to live with someone who is constantly down on themselves and always judging themselves? Not fun is it? But the truth is that many of us are actually quite mean to ourselves, all day long. How crazy is that? Not only that, but we are usually in constant, deep resistance to what is happening around us as well, which further compounds the issue.

Do you see the picture here? Being hard on ourselves all the time plus being at war with ourselves over what’s “out there” in the external world is slowly and insidiously killing us.

Through my own painful and difficult journey, I came to realize that we have to feel it in order to heal it. It seems to be “normal” to resist feeling difficult emotions and feelings; instead we numb them with addictions like overeating, over drinking, drugs, TV, shopping, etc. in order to suppress and deny them. But sooner or later, they catch up with us. We can’t run away forever, but we can create a lot of suffering for ourselves in trying to escape our pain.

Instead, practice the process of ALLOWING whatever is happening and ALLOWING whatever you are feeling. Accepting (the resistance to it is what causes our suffering), embracing, and actually coming to love it, no matter what it is, is the only way to release it.

Accept Who You Are

Learn to accept your dark parts, also known as your shadow, and stop trying to deny or avoid them. What we resist, persists and magnifies, causing us even more drama. We all have dark parts; it is a normal part of being human.

Rather than run away from our fears, resentments, loneliness, pain, anger, sadness, abandonment, shame, guilt, etc., we should lean into those uncomfortable emotions and name them, write them down, and get curious. Start asking yourself questions about why you are feeling them and where they are coming from (most likely a childhood trauma or experience).

Is there an opportunity to reconsider that scene with new eyes and realize that positive things also came out of the perceived trauma/negative? Can we see that we learned and grew from that experience, rather than cling to the lopsided victim story we tend to carry around for years? If we can neutralize our one sided victim story, we balance it, and our emotions can shift and begin to heal. This is life transforming.

Stop Comparing!

Lastly, STOP comparing yourself to anyone else or where you think you should be — this is the fastest way to depression. The reality is, you are where you are and it is exactly where you need to be at this time. Anything outside of that is a Story that your mind program made up.

Shift your perception of the story or memory by balancing it and you transform yourself and the situation. It is not easy to do, as most are so addicted to their victim stories, but if you are open and willing to try it, you will experience a powerful change that will impact all areas of your life.

I was surprised to realize that I was being very angry, judgemental, and mean to myself most of the time, so I really had to practice what I preach and learn to Accept, Embrace, and Love myself. This changed Everything — my physical and emotional health started shifting almost immediately and my energy levels improved significantly.

My long-dormant creativity was ignited, after being buried under multiple layers of stress for decades. I discovered new parts of myself and feel different. I feel a renewed love of Life and at a much deeper level than I have ever experienced before. (I was a very positive, compassionate, loving person who helped people and animals in need but did not like or care for myself much.)

A powerful INNER Transformation has taken place and the results are nothing short of amazing. Try being gentle, kind and loving to yourself consistently and you will experience a whole new perspective and way of BEing.

There are good meditation apps as well as personal development apps available to help you with this process, along with many transformational books and various processes on the market. There are countless workshops, articles, and coaches to assist you with this powerful, life-changing process of learning Self Compassion.

The only person who knows what is best for you is You — so make some quiet time to meditate, go to nature, and do some research — and then INVEST in yourself. You are more than worth it.

Do I still experience challenges? Of course – challenges are a part of life and play in important role in our growth. Think about it – without obstacles, we wouldn’t have learned to deal with adversity, face our fears and realize our own strength. Challenges are not a bad thing, they force us to step up and take action, as does fear.

What is it costing you to keep feeling the way you do? Suffering and in pain, physically and emotionally? If you are ready and willing to do the work (because it IS work!) and you realize it’s time for Change — start taking small steps towards Self Connection and Self Transformation. Watch your world change.

from:    http://www.zengardner.com/my-hellish-health-journey/

WIlliam Henry on the Blue Beings

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I am just including a portion of this fascinating article by William Henry.  Go to the link at the bottom for the rest:

William Henry — The Blue Avians and Sphere Beings

THE BLUE AVIANS AND BLUE SPHERE BEINGS : DO YOU KNOW WHAT LOVE CAN DO?

While in Boulder taping my new Gaia TV show, “The Awakened Soul: The Lost Science of Ascension,” I sat down with Corey Goode and David Wilcock for three episodes of their hit program “Cosmic Disclosure: Inside the Secret Space Program”.

Corey is a “SSP” whistle blower who tells an astounding story of advanced human civilizations in space, and extraterrestrials called Blue Sphere Beings and Blue Avians, who are guiding humanity. Hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to “Cosmic Disclosure” to listen, to lend support to Corey, and to advocate for a reshuffle of the ET-human relations deck… and a new beginning for humanity by disclosing the existence of our true place in the solar system.

Critics say Corey’s story is straight out of the fantasy and scifi pulp magazines of the 1920s and 30s. The first question David Wilcock asked me during the interview was if I thought Corey was crazy.

I have no idea, I said. People believe what they want to believe. Seeing is believing for some. They want proof: pics, video, something. Others see it and believe Corey, trusting in his sincerity and the vetting of David Wilcock, who is known for his links to ET insiders and whistleblowers.

All I know is I enjoyed talking with both of them. When I first heard Corey’s story, I thought, wow, he’s talking about two of my favorite subjects; the Bird Tribe and the blue sphere wormholes or ascension spheres of the ancients. Any minute now I thought he might get into some of the ancient beliefs about these subjects.

By the way, neither of these subjects are out of scifi magazines. That is, unless you read the ancient Egyptian religious texts, Hindu literature, Native American spiritual tradition and the Bible as scifi and interpret Christian art portraying the ascension of Jesus on a blue sphere as fantasy art.

Clare and I discussed aspects of these topics, especially the blue spheres, in an episode of ourARCANUM series called “Ascension Thrones of the Ancients.” I revisited the subject directly in an episode of THE AWAKENED SOUL called “The Blue Sphere and the Soul.”

After seeing my show, and the historical art I presented, the Gaia producers immediately booked the interview with Corey and David. What I was saying corroborates Corey story, they said.

The result was an exciting conversation.

Well, one interview turned to three. We left A LOT more to discuss.

It’s not everyday that one gets to fill in a blank for a dot connector like David Wilcock, but as you’ll see in the show, this is exactly what happened. The pearl I dropped on David’s door, I am certain, is a gift that will open new pathways for him and all who follow his work. All best blessings to all.

Corey was impressed by my photos from the temple of Horus at Edfu showing Horus, the falcon-headed god, painted blue. He had never seen any of the images I was presenting. His spontaneous reactions were insightful and wonder-inspiring. He reminded me of how I felt when I first took the photos.

Horus in blue at Edfu. Photo by William Henry.

More, he loved my collection of photos of Horus in blue from Denderah. He was especially impressed that, until five years ago when the Egyptians restored the ceiling, the magnificent blue images were covered with black soot. No one knew Horus was blue. Talk about divine timing! We laughed, wondering if they were waiting for Corey’s revelation of the Blue Avians?

Horus enthroned at Denderah, Egypt. Photo by William Henry.

Where I took Corey and David from there in my ascension art collection blew their minds (pun intended).

In this article I will share some key insights from my research on the Blue Sphere Beings and the Blue Birds.

Then, I will share some of my thoughts on the Bird Tribe that weren’t part of our conversation. They are actually insights from two extraordinary mystical sources, “The Wizard of Oz” and Paul McCartney.

I know you will be as amazed as I am about the correspondence. First a word about about the

THE RETURN OF THE BIRD TRIBES

Ever since reading Ken Carey’s “Return of the Bird Tribes” back in 1992, I have been on the trail of an ancient tribe of spiritual beings who continuously manifested to humans for thousands of years, right up to the present, to ‘upgrade’ humanity…to give us, well… wings.

The “Bird Tribes” are not birds. They are celestial beings or angels who are master Ascension Teachers. Carey calls them Star People. They really are Star People, but in real life they really do not have wings.

Carey’s book inspired me to research the Bird Tribe’s angelic language, the Language of the Birds. I wrote a book about it in 1998, but that is another story for another time.

My path led me to Egypt and the ibis-headed bird man, Thoth, teacher of the resurrection and ascension mysteries…

Thoth resurrects King Seti I, dressed in Osiris’s Karast garment, from the dead with the ankh or ‘Key of Life’. Photo by William Henry.

…And to the falcon-headed Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris. In the ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, some of the oldest ascension texts in the world, the deceased king rises into the portals in the sky as Horus, indicating his role in the ‘stargate mysteries’ of ancient Egypt. Horus symbolizes the living, eternal light body returning to the stars…becoming a Starwalker in the Dimension of the Blessed.
These stargate mysteries came alive for me on the ceiling of Hathor’s magnificent temple of Love and Joy in Denderah, Egypt, where we see various members of the Bird Tribe, including Isis, the Great Cosmic Mother, and Horus, her Son of Light, as blue bird-people along with blue humans wearing feathered cloaks.

Go to this link for the rest of the article.  It is well worth it:    http://operationdisclosure.blogspot.ca/2016/06/william-henry-blue-avians-and-sphere.html

Creativity to Combat Stress

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UNE 15, 2016 by APRIL McCARTHY

Making Any Kind of Art At Any Skill Level Reduces Stress Hormones

Whether you’re Van Gogh or a stick-figure sketcher, a new Drexel University study found that making art can significantly reduce stress-related hormones in your body.

Although the researchers from Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions believed that past experience in creating art might amplify the activity’s stress-reducing effects, their study found that everyone seems to benefit equally.

“It was surprising and it also wasn’t,” said Girija Kaimal, EdD, assistant professor of creative arts therapies. “It wasn’t surprising because that’s the core idea in art therapy: Everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting. That said, I did expect that perhaps the effects would be stronger for those with prior experience.”

The results of the study were published in Art Therapy under the title “Reduction of Cortisol Levels and Participants’ Responses Following Art Making.” Kendra Ray, a doctoral student under Kaimal, and Juan Muniz, PhD, an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences, served as co-authors.

“Biomarkers” are biological indicators (like hormones) that can be used to measure conditions in the body, such as stress. Cortisol was one such the hormone measured in the study through saliva samples. The higher a person’s cortisol level, the more stressed a person is likely to be.

For Kaimal’s study, 39 adults, ranging from 18 to 59 years old, were invited to participate in 45 minutes of art-making. Cortisol levels were taken before and after the art-making period.

Materials available to the participants included markers and paper, modeling clay and collage materials. There were no directions given and every participant could use any of the materials they chose to create any work of art they desired. An art therapist was present during the activity to help if the participant requested any.

Of those who took part in the study, just under half reported that they had limited experience in making art.

The researchers found that 75 percent of the participants’ cortisol levels lowered during their 45 minutes of making art. And while there was some variation in how much cortisol levels lowered, there was no correlation between past art experiences and lower levels.

Written testimonies of their experiences afterward revealed how the participants felt about the creating art.

“It was very relaxing,” one wrote. “After about five minutes, I felt less anxious. I was able to obsess less about things that I had not done or need [ed] to get done. Doing art allowed me to put things into perspective.”

However, roughly 25 percent of the participants actually registered higher levels of cortisol — though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Some amount of cortisol is essential for functioning,” Kaimal explained. “For example, our cortisol levels vary throughout the day — levels are highest in the morning because that gives us an energy boost to us going at the start of the day. It could’ve been that the art-making resulted in a state of arousal and/or engagement in the study’s participants.”

Kaimal and her team believed, going into the study, that the type of art materials used by participants might affect cortisol levels. They thought that the less-structured mediums — using clay or drawing with markers — would result in lower cortisol levels than the structured — collaging. That, however, wasn’t supported by the results, as no significant correlation was found.

The study did find a weak correlation between age and lower cortisol levels. Younger participants exhibited consistently lower cortisol levels after they’d created art.

Those results made Kaimal wonder about how young college students and high school students deal with the stress that comes from academia — and how creative arts can help.

“I think one reason might be that younger people are developmentally still figuring out ways to deal with stress and challenges, while older individuals — just from having lived life and being older — might have more strategies to problem-solve and manage stress more effectively,” Kaimal said.

In light of that, Kaimal plans to extend the study to explore whether “creative self- expression in a therapeutic environment can help reduce stress.” In that study, other biomarkers like alpha amylase and oxytocin will also be measured to give a more comprehensive picture.

Additionally, Kaimal also plans to study how visual arts-based expression affects end-of-life patients and their caregivers.

“We want to ultimately examine how creative pursuits could help with psychological well-being and, therefore, physiological health, as well,” she said.

from:    http://preventdisease.com/news/16/061516_Making-Art-Reduces-Stress-Hormones.shtml