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21 Oct

Play, Autism, and The PLAY Project

coverBy Rick Solomon

 

Just today in the New York Times there was an opinion piece by Paul Tough entitled To Help Children, Coach Their Parents about research on young children who were at high risk for developmental and behavioral problems in Jamaica. What did they coach the parents to do? Promote more educational activities? Nope. Use techniques to help children improve their behavior? Guess again. Play more? Yes! Parents in one arm of the research study were coached to spend time enjoying being with their child in a fun and interactive way with long term positive impacts on I.Q., less aggressive behavior and better self control.

 

Recently, a colleague of mine, Erica Christakis PhD in her just published, best selling book called The Importance of Being Little called for a return to playfulness as the best way of helping the pre-school child educationally. She referenced our program, The PLAY Project’s Autism Early Intervention program, as an example of how play can help children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

 

Play and autism? Can children with autism learn to play with others? The brains of children with autism have disorganized, under-connected, neuronal networks. It’s like having a loose net of brain cells that let’s the complexity of the world fall through, that drives these children have repetitive, stereotyped, and obsessive interests—the opposite of play. It explains their lack of interest in socializing, even with their own parents! I can’t tell you how many parents have told me how sad it was not to be able to connect with their own child. When it comes to their developmental course, children with ASD are their own worst enemies—seeking isolation and sameness. They do not play well with others. The saving grace is something called ‘neuronal plasticity’ the ability of the brain to form better neuronal connections through experience. We just have to find our way to play’s neuronal structures within the brain of children with ASD.

 

It can be done. Children with autism—like all children—have so much potential!

 

After 25 years of working with children on the spectrum and 15 years of being the medical director of The PLAY Project, I can testify to the power of coaching parents to use the power of play. The PLAY Project is one of the few, proven national programs that uses play as a primary intervention for children with ASD. Through coaching parents in playful ways we not only help the adults connect socially with the child, but we help the child’s development and social interaction. Most important of all, through play we helped the child’s autism symptoms improve!

About the author
A leader in the field of autism, Richard Solomon, M.D., has more than 25 years of experience working with thousands of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families. In one of the largest and most rigorous research studies in the U.S., The PLAY Project was shown to be evidence-based; parents can learn to improve their relationship with their child and children in the study showed significant improvement in several measures of development. He has worked with Mr. Rogers, T. Barry Brazelton, Stanley Greenspan and Ivar Lovaas. He is currently in private practice as a developmental and behavioral pediatrician in Ann Arbor, Mich.

You can read more about Dr. Solomon and his book in the press release here or visit the website for more information.

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10 Oct

Physical Activity and the Healthy Heart

img_0947By Jacqueline A. Eubany, MD, FACC FHRS

www.womenandheartdiseasebook.com

Physical activity is important for good heart health. It is beneficial in healthy individuals, people who are considered high risk for disease, and those who are currently living with chronic health conditions. From a heart standpoint, physical activity can lower your blood pressure, reduce your cholesterol, decrease your blood sugar and therefore your risk for diabetes, and overall reduces your chances of dying from heart disease related illness.

What is physical activity that is relevant to heart health? Physical activity for the heart is activity that increases heart rate to a certain level, and maintains that level for enough time for the heart to develop stamina, good cardiac circulation, and improve cardiac muscle function.

How much physical activity does one need to obtain a healthy heart? According to the American College of Cardiology, people should engage in a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or a minimum of 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity. Once the minimum level is attained, and one is comfortable exercising to this level, then one can slowly increase to a moderate aerobic activity level of 300 minutes a week, or increase to a vigorous aerobic activity level of 150 minutes a week. The length of time it takes between the start of your heart healthy exercise program and the accomplishment of your 300 minute per week moderate activity routine is left at your discretion and your physical activity level.

What are examples of physical activities that can be considered for one’s healthy heart routine? Moderate aerobic activities include things like brisk walking, dancing, and water aerobics, while vigorous aerobic activity include things like running, hiking uphill, and swimming laps. A good gauge of whether you are engaged in a moderate versus a vigorous physical activity is your ability to talk and/or sing while exercising. If you are able to talk comfortably, but not able to sing the words of your favorite song while you exercise, then you are more than likely engaged in moderate physical activity. Whereas, if you are barely able to utter 1-2 words while you exercise, then you are more than likely engaged in vigorous physical activity.

What should you consider before you begin your new physical activity habit? For those who are physically inactive, especially those with chronic medical conditions, it is very important to discuss exercise and your limitations with your physician prior to starting a workout regimen. Don’t be discouraged because you cannot exercise for 150 minutes a week. Remember, any amount of exercise is better than no physical activity. Start slow. Exercise for 5-10 minutes a day, and build up slowly over several weeks to 150 minutes a day. Set achievable goals each week and try to make them. If you do not achieve them, it is okay, just keep trying! If you stay focused and motivated, you will reach your goal! To quote Confucius, “It does not matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop.”

In summary, physical activity is a key component to good heart health. It can lower your risk factors for heart disease, and decrease your risk of dying from heart disease related illness. Any physical activity is always better than NO physical activity, so you have to get out there and just move. The minimal goal for good heart health is 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous physical activity. Start TODAY! Start slow, and build up your stamina. Here is to good heart health. See you next time.

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07 Oct

Pamela Anne Glassman: An Angel to Remember

an-angel-to-remember-1By Joan E. Childs, LCSW

She was breathtakingly beautiful, brilliant and bewitching!  She was passionate, powerful and precocious.  Her power to heal transcended anyone’s imagination.  She was a goddess, a seductress, a sleuth, seeker of the truth and transformer.  Pamela was a magician and worked her magic on all the wounded souls who had the good fortune to be in her presence and professional care.  She was relentless to a fault, persistent, driven by internal forces that were challenging to temper.  She stood her ground no matter the consequences, drew the lightening to herself to exorcise her patients who had been ravaged during their childhood.  She was Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, Helen of Troy and Pami Annie Daisy, all rolled up in one sensational being.  She was a loving sister, a dedicated therapist, a compassionate friend, her Daddy’s little girl and my precious daughter.  We lost her to bipolar disorder and a dysfunctional sub-standard health system that today, still exists.

October 1 was her birthday.  She would have been 53 years old.  Our lives were changed forever on that fateful morning eighteen years ago, when her mental illness pushed her out the window of a 15 story building.  Pami would never have made that decision.  She loved life, her family, friends, colleagues and clients, who until today, have never forgotten her life force and the impact she made on their lives. Her mental illness won the battle for life.  It sentenced her to death. It invaded her brain like a midnight stalker that slowly, surreptitiously, and steadfastly eroded her thought processes to believe she had been chosen as a mediator between God and Lucifer.  She had been made to believe that the devil was going to take her soul and cried out for help that never came.  Instead, she fell through the cracks of a system that failed her and so many others with mental illness.

How could that have happened?  Why did she plunge fifteen stories to her death? What were the tortured thoughts that executed that decision?    I will never know.  I will never get closure.  This I have accepted.  I will never have the answer to those questions and more; this too I have accepted.  What I can never accept is the apathetic attitude our country has towards mental illness.   I made a choice never to be a victim.  I made a decision not to accept being just a survivor.  I chose to be a Phoenix, like the mythological bird that rises from the ashes to make a mission out of my loss; a loss that affected so many others and a loss that is pervasive in our country.  I want to eradicate the shame and stigma from mental illness.  I want to be a change agent for everyone who struggles with bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.  I want to help families who have lost a loved one through suicide due to a mental disorder.  I want to help the families of veterans who lost their husbands, wives, fathers, sons, mothers and daughters.  Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day.  This is an epidemic and must be treated.  Post- traumatic stress disorder is a mental illness that can and often does, lead to suicide.

Pami’s life and death must have meaning.  Her work and unyielding devotion to her patients must be honored.  It calls for action.  It calls for conscious raising.  It calls for help.  No longer can we look blindly away from reality.  No longer can we ignore the 6 plus million people in this country who suffer from bipolar disorder.  No longer can we look away from the 40, 000 suicides a year.  No longer can we maintain denial when we know that suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults from the ages of 18-25.  It is the 10th leading cause of death in the US.  There are more suicides than homicides.  How can we remain indifferent? Passive?  Disinterested?  It is only when we encounter a loved one who suffers from a mental illness do we become militant in our quest for help.

When the children of Sandy Hope Elementary were murdered by a madman, the parents became vigilant in their effort to raise the conscious awareness of gun control.  It was when Peter Craig Alderman, the 25 year old young man lost his life in the World Trade Center on 9/11 that his parents became advocates for change and created a foundation in honor of their son’s truncated life.  It was when John Walsh’s young son was abducted and murdered that he became a vigilante for finding predators.  We all chose to become a Phoenix.  We all chose to make our children’s lives matter.

I wrote this blog two days after Pam’s birthday.  I was reflecting on the impact she made on other’s that eighteen years later, when I announced her birthday on Facebook, more than one hundred responses were yielded, all of whom remembered who she was and what she did to make this world a better place.  It is way past midnight as I close this blog.  I was driven to post it before too much time passes since it was posted on Facebook.  She would have loved to have known the impression she made on others and the legacy she left to those who knew her well.

Happy Birthday Pami.  From all of us who were lucky to have known you.  May you rest in peace.

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05 Oct

Rejoicing Through the Tears, Brenda George

georgeBy Brenda George

Chapter Nine

Totally Isolated

That first weekend after the treatment was the hardest, as I had to be isolated from my family to ensure that they wouldn’t be exposed to the radiation. They each stayed with different relatives for two weeks. This was my weakest moment, and yet I had to stay completely alone. For about a week after the treatment, I noticed foods had a funny, almost-metallic taste. My mouth was also dry, so I had to drink a lot of fluids to stay hydrated and to help my kidneys remove the unused, radioactive iodine from my body. Eating sour candy like lemon drops helped. I started back on my thyroid medicine the following week and was allowed to eat a regular diet again. It took me a couple of weeks to get my appetite back. I started to regain my strength and appetite one day at a time. Every woman knows, especially if she is a mother, how important it is to have some time just for yourself. No matter how much we love our families, everyone needs a little space once in a while. It’s a mother’s deepest longing. Evenings can be especially hectic with small children not to mention downright insane with teenagers. From about 5:00 until about 9:00 p.m. is what I could almost painstakingly describe as the valley of the shadow of death. I won’t even talk about evenings with teenagers. They have such chaotic schedules, and their music; we won’t even go there. I can hear it now, even as I write, that pounding bass, in tune with every heartbeat. I’ll save that for another book. It can drive a sane person crazy and wreck their nerves for a week. Do you remember that commercial, “Calgon, take me away”? The one where the mom is taking a relaxing bubble bath as she is trying to escape her world for a little while? I admit that I’ve been guilty of yearning for that much-needed quiet time. I used to think, “If I could just watch a good movie without any noise and actually see the end of it, or read a good book straight through, or sleep as long as I want to”. I’m sure you understand what I mean. But after being isolated for two weeks, I completely changed my mind. Like the saying, “Been there, done that,” being alone was not nearly as glamorous as I thought it would be. There are only so many movies that I could watch, and only so many books that I could read. When I realized that, day after day, I was really alone, and no one would be walking through that door, it gave me plenty of time to contemplate that being alone was pretty lonely. Being alone began to take on a whole new meaning. I probably got carried away, because I even made my family take our dog away. One day when I was feeling sorry for myself, I was elated to realize that my granddaughter’s goldfish was still there. I remember saying to the fish, “Prince Charming, we’re in this together.” See, I told you I was lonely! I was so glad to see something else that was living and breathing. Sometimes, something as small as a goldfish can lift our spirits.

I was overly cautious about everything. I was afraid to even light a candle, and could just see the headlines in the newspaper, “Lady used as a bomb to test nuclear weapons following radiation treatment.” You’ve got to admit, we hear some pretty bizarre things on the news these days. Now that it’s behind me, I have to almost chuckle at my naiveté, but at the time, it was a real concern. I had never been sick a day in my life, so it was a learning process for me. Although I can usually find humor in almost any situation, this was one experience where I couldn’t. That was a time in my life that I will never forget. It was not only difficult for me, but for my entire family as well. I did a lot of soul-searching, praying, and learning to yield my life to God’s keeping. At that time, I didn’t know the results of the treatment or even if it had been successful or not. In the back of my mind, I went over and over all of the “what if’s. What if the treatment didn’t work? What if I need another one? What if all of my hair falls out? What if my family has to stay away longer? What if I’m too sick to take care of myself? And the final “what if”; What if I die? Those thoughts were never-ending. Two weeks before Christmas, when most people were out shopping, I was home alone, too sick to do anything about it. I cried a lot as I listened to some of my favorite Christmas songs like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Christmas Shoes,” because they only magnified my loneliness. I didn’t realize before how many Christmas songs were about being home with your loved ones. My mom was like a Christmas angel, filling in wherever she was needed. Brent took Travis to school on many snowy mornings. Mark kept working hard on his printing job, and his family helped as much as they could. My kids all tried cheering me up every chance they got.

We waved and blew kisses at one another from my front windows as they drove up and sat in front of our house for a little while, just to feel like they were home. They dropped off cards, pictures, and flowers. One card I’ll always remember played the song, “I Will Survive.” They even brought my favorite Starbucks drink, Strawberry Iced Frappacino. Savannah, my little granddaughter, was four years old at the time, and couldn’t understand why I was all alone and why they couldn’t come in. She thought everyone was mad at me. That took some careful explaining. The ladies from church brought one meal after another, and I received many calls from neighbors and countless gifts and cards from friends. I realized how God had carried me through the storm when it was next to impossible to go on by myself. The famous poem “Footprints” came alive for me with a deeper meaning, as I realized that God had carried me at this terribly low time in my life. The last few lines of the poem had the most meaning, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints is when I carried you.” I was now beginning to understand the depth of God’s love.

Keep and guard me as the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 17:8

thus says the Lord: restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord; and your children shall return from the enemy’s land. and there is hope for your future, says the Lord. Jeremiah 31:16-17

 

Rejoicing Though the Tears

By Brenda George

 

The URL to my website:

rejoicingthrough.com

 

The Link to my blog:

http://brendageorge.authorsxpress.com/

 

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05 Oct

AstroNumerology

9781452522326_COVER.indd

By Jesse Kalsi

“Numbers are alive and are represented by planetary energy. They have a direct impact on our success, health, happiness and prosperity.”

 

There are several different kinds of numerology; each has its particular strengths. However, even the best system is worthless without clear and consistent interpretation relative to the issues at hand. With clarity, insight, and compassion Jesse has consulted with individuals regarding their personal and business lives.

 

I use the term “AstroNumerology” because I associate numbers with planets, which are astronomical bodies. AstroNumerology is not about adding numbers up; it is about looking at each individual number, since each represents a particular planet, and considering the totality of the number’s own “planetary system.” Each planet is further associated with different precious & semi-precious gems, colors, and the basic relationships of planets within the Solar System.

Adding a certain number to improve a vibration for a home or business (“patching”)* is like adding the energy of another planet to a home or business. Most homes or businesses are patched very specifically, based on the type of business or the date(s) of birth and names(s) of the person(s) living in the residence. In the Vedic tradition, numbers are also related to the four elements, which correspond to the cardinal points. Since I grew up in India, I was surrounded by Vedic traditions, including Vedic numerology. However, I use the following correspondences between numbers and planets:

  1. The Sun
  2. The Moon
  3. Jupiter
  4. Uranus
  5. Mercury
  6. Venus
  7. Neptune
  8. Saturn
  9. Mars

Many traditional Vedic numerologists just add numbers up until they achieve a single-digit result and work with the characteristics only of that number. A home address of 2733 would thus be 2+7+3+3 or 15, then 1+5, or 6. The Vedic numerologist would then consult on the characteristics of the number 6 with the client. However, AstroNumerology takes all the planetary energies present in an address into account. Using the same home address, we see that 2733 has the Moon, followed by Neptune, followed by two Jupiter’s. These planets move about each other in a Venus vibration. All five of these planets (remember, two Jupiter’s!) must be considered.

Let’s look at a well-known address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. Many traditional Vedic numerologist would add this up to a 7 (1+6+0+0) and consult with the client about the number 7 alone. In AstroNumerology, the number 1600 represents the Sun and Venus moving about each other in a Neptune vibration. The two zeroes amplify, for better or for worse, the energies represented by all three planets. The Sun and Venus together on a home address have a discordant energy. This combination also brings in confusion, deception, and miscommunication. One must be careful while close to a fire, whether in a fireplace or the kitchen, because accidents could easily happen near the flames.

If 1600 were a business address, it could be extremely profitable, depending on the kind of business. Food, music, and technology are three business’ which could flourish in such a number. Unfortunately, diplomacy and policy are not enterprises that flourish in this vibration, as many United States Presidents have discovered to their dismay. The number 1600 is also destructive of personal reputations and personal growth.

 

The Power Of Home Numbers

“Our old house was smaller, but much happier than this one. My husband’s job was more fulfilling and our children were joyful. We moved to this house, and…what happened?”

This question and others have been posed to Jesse Kalsi over the past two decades. His experiences in helping people improve the relationships under their roof are outlined in The Power of Home Numbers.

The Power of Home Numbers is a unique presentation of how your date of birth, home address, and name work (or don’t) in your favor. Moving to a “better” house can sometimes backfire in unexpected ways.

A favorable residential address can bring family peace, harmonious relationships, and long-lasting partnerships with good neighbors. An unfavorable residential address can have multiple negative effects: health consequences, financial stress, family disruption….

Drawing on Eastern and Western numerological traditions, Mr. Kalsi explains the energies of the numbers 1 through 9, discusses the significance of 0, and presents numbers as they appear in residential addresses. Each number signifies a specific planet, e.g., 6 represents Venus; thus, an address including a 6 involves the relationships of the resident(s) with Venus. This system, “AstroNumerology,” is used for business success by professional athletes, businesspeople, and celebrities in the media world.

The Power of Home Numbers analyzes combinations of birthdates and personal names, residential addresses, and their planetary energy so that the reader becomes aware of their inter-connection. Where an address is unfavorably aspected, Mr. Kalsi explains how he has used Number Patching™ to elevate the resonance of the address.

All analyses preserve the privacy of involved individuals; the only true names are in the chapters involving world affairs.

To understand why things are perhaps not working as well in your current home as they did in a previous dwelling, look to The Power of Home Numbers for enlightenment.

Business Naming

In addition to the home numbers being in tune with the occupants (the subject of my first book), it is extremely important that the business name vibrations be in sync with the owner’s name and the business address, based on the owner’s personal energy. In my experience, I have realized that these two vibrations – name and home – must vibrate positively for success and prosperity. Precious gems like blue sapphire, ruby, diamond, yellow sapphire, cat’s eye, pearl, amethyst, red coral, and emerald can also be used to bring good luck and more opportunities based on the owner’s personal energy.

Besides home numbers, name numbers, and the use of gems, bank account numbers to draw the energy of wealth, telephone numbers to bring positive information, and car registration numbers are some other examples that should be considered very carefully. Numbers correspond with colors, too: by knowing one’s basic numerology, the right colors can be used to enhance the well-being and draw the right spiritual energy.

It is also extremely important that the energy of homes be cleared on a regular basis. Many techniques, like burning sage, repainting the interior, removing old drapes, and dowsing, help in keeping the numbers vibrating positively.

 

Business Name Changes

The success of a business is greatly dependent on the business’s name with the right numerological vibration and a positive business address. Different kinds of businesses have different kinds of energy; for example, a food business works well with the Moon (#2) and Neptune (#7), real estate with Saturn (#8), and communications and the media with Mercury (#5). It is also extremely important that the business be born at an auspicious astrological time.

Numbers play a very important part in the buying and selling of real estate. Having been in the real estate business myself for 15 years, I have realized that certain numerologies always pull money while other numbers constantly drain cash and bring health challenges and other personal problems.

The name “Microsoft” has the energy of Jupiter, the largest planet, the energy of wealth and expansion; an excellent name that has brought Microsoft financial success and a huge global presence. The address (One Microsoft Way) and Bill Gates’ date of birth (October 28, 1955) work to the great advantage of Microsoft. There couldn’t be a better combination than the #1 and #4 coming together here: #4 and #1 act like a mirror image of each other. The Sun + Uranus are magical.

Apple, at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA, is represented by the mighty Sun (the #1 in the street address) and by Neptune (#7 represented in the name “Apple”), a very mysterious kind of planetary energy. The Sun and Neptune flow in harmony; they’re very compatible energies, and this is one of the many reasons Apple has become a global company. For additional Sun influence, one need only look to Steve Jobs’ date of birth-February 24, 1955-and see that it’s an additional Sun-influenced day. Two Suns working together bring the success Apple has experienced, in harmony with its name.

 

The Importance of Jersey Numbers in Sports

Over the years, I’ve observed that jersey numbers vibrate very powerfully for the players who wear them. These numbers need to be in sync with the players’ names and dates of birth for the player to maximize his potential for success.

In India, where cricket is a huge interest and players also wear player numbers, numerologists are consulted before a player is assigned a number. This is because the number must vibrate with the player’s personal energies. Even in individual sports (for example, tennis or golf), an athlete’s date of birth and publicly known name will vibrate either to help or hinder the athlete.

In June 2005, NFL running back Clinton Portis agreed to pay $18,000 to former Washington Redskins teammate Ifeanyi Ohalete to avoid a trial between the two players. When Portis had been traded to the Redskins by the Denver Broncos in 2004, he wanted jersey number 26, which he had worn for two seasons at Denver. However, Ohalete was already wearing 26 for the Redskins. After discussions, the two players agreed that Ohalete would give Portis the number 26 in exchange for $40,000 and would wear number 30 instead. Clearly, jersey numbers mean a lot to their wearers!

 

About the Author

Jesse Kalsi is a world-renowned numerologist. He specializes in residential, business, and sports numerology and provides valuable insight on the power of numbers and how they affect our lives. In his book, The Power of Home Numbers, he combines his Eastern upbringing with his Western experience to bring awareness and understanding of this phenomenon.

Over the past 20+ years, Jesse has consulted thousands of people and affected their lives positively. His clients include prominent business people and extremely successful communication and entertainment companies. Jesse Kalsi has appeared on many radio and television shows in the U.S., and his unique perspective on Numerology has amazed his audience. He lives in Northern California with his family.

More information is available at http://www.jessekalsi.com.

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30 Sep

Improve your self-esteem with spirituality and prayer

By Kay Christy

Self-esteem is subjective.  We each determine for ourselves our self-worth.  This is the good news and the bad news.  Since this is a personal judgment based on our own assessment, we can change it at any time. Because it is our own assessment, we also create a groove of thought that is both positive and negative, which is similar to how a vinyl record plays with a needle in the groove.

 

This personal groove of thought is where I found myself wanting relief and change.  I desperately wanted to create something that would lay a new pathway in my brain and change the record that played endlessly in the back of my head because of addiction. I was constantly saying to myself that I was not good enough, too large and not right.  At my core, I was not loveable and I felt trapped by my negativity. These negative thoughts played over and over on repeat like how I used to play the Moody Blues song, “Nights in White Satin” on my 1970s record player.

 

There are many writers and inspirational speakers who talk about creative visualization. How using affirmations and positive thinking are intended to improve self-esteem, self-worth and self-perception.  I researched, read and practiced.  I referenced the writings of Louise Hay, Norman Vincent Peale, Wayne Dyer, Shakti Gawain and Marianne Williamson. These authors taught me a new song to sing and a new record to play.  They allowed me to focuses on statements that would improve my self-confidence. I thought of ideas such as how the power and potential of self-esteem could be gleaned from positive thinking.

 

I understood the concepts quickly, but had trouble incorporating them into my daily life.  In the years of my early recovery, I used the book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron as a writing guide.  In the journaling process of morning pages, I would write messages to myself.  Simple sentences like – everything is just right.  God has my worries taken care of.  The universe loves you.  Today I am in recovery.  Next, I started writing these phrases on small cards and putting them in places where I would see them throughout my day.  They were taped to mirrors, on the refrigerator, the dashboard of my car and inside my wallet. Everywhere I looked, I was helpfully reminded of new ways to train my brain.  I used this same technique when I learned automatic writing to soothe my troublesome thoughts.

 

Within the rooms of the 12-step world of recovery, I felt understood. I learned that prayer could heal emotional and physical afflictions as well as self-loathing.  I learned that I could feel love and compassion for myself and others. I learned the power of surrender and what it feels like to completely release fear in my daily life. This was extremely beneficial for my self-esteem.

 

My journal writing progressed to a daily spiritual practice and I began to experiment with automatic writing where I used my non-dominant hand and let my inner voices of spirit direct my words.

In the beginning, I didn’t know what to call the written pieces.  They were journal entries, yet a bit like poems.  They were affirmations, yet something different.  Calling them prayers seemed right.  I used them in the way I had used the serenity prayer when I first discovering a life without alcohol and drugs.  I realized my mother used verses from the Bible to comfort herself.  My father used the affirmations of Norman Vincent Peale as his thought director. It was all fitting together for me. This helped me to keep writing and I felt happier and stronger.

 

When I pray, my thoughts shift to positivity and calm, which greatly enhances my day. My life becomes easier.  At some point, I stopped attempting to figure things out myself and surrendered to the truth of it.  I now feel better about myself as well as the world that surrounds me.  I can see possibilities that used to elude me.  I now feel more hopeful everyday and have inspiration to share with others.  For me, that is enough.  I am complete.  I am whole. I am love.

 

As I was writing this guest article for the Coffey Talk blog, I asked my internal guidance system to offer a prayer to go with the tagline:  Ancient Wisdom.  Modern Style.  Here is what I wrote for the Coffey Talk readers…

 

Ancient Wisdom

 

The elders gather to chant our names

there is drumming and food

laughter and fire.

 

We are held

and blessed

and washed clean in this highest space

 

Know this today in your modern world

They gather for us

 

The ancestor’s guide

The angels sing our praise

The spirits stand guard

 

We are whole

unique

and free

Know this today and each day forward.

 

About the Author

Kay Christy is  the author of “Gifts from Guidance” and a life coach who has been in recovery for more than 30 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in business from The Evergreen State College and a master’s degree in behavioral science from City University of Seattle. She resides in Olympia, Wash.

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30 Sep

Six Ways My Pup Helps Me to Live Mindfully

BY Shannon Kopp

  1. She wakes me up early

Bella and I share a pillow at night, her head in front of my mine, the small curve of her back pressed against my chest, her soft ear brushing against my chin. She’s a cream-colored, Poodle/Terrier mix who looks part dog, part teddy bear. Bella sleeps in my arms and wakes up in them, too — and sometimes, her urge to play at six a.m. is as intense as my urge for morning coffee.

Quite suddenly, she wakes up, stands on my head, and then jumps off the bed. She pounces on a squeaker toy or a lonely sock, charging from one side of the room to the other until I finally get out of bed. I never appreciate her enthusiasm at the time, but later, I’m thankful for it.

If you want to meditate in the morning, it’s good to be awake.

 

  1. She teaches me the art of simplicity

I have so many books on meditation I hardly know what to do with myself. My inbox is full of Present Moment Reminders from Eckhart Tolle, and notifications from Oprah and Deepak’s meditation series, and mindfulness emails from the yoga studio down the street, and monthly updates from my local Transcendental Meditation Center. I’m the one that signed up for these things, and I’m glad I did, but sometimes I get so overwhelmed by all of my options I do nothing at all.

Bella does not believe in multi-tasking. She gives each activity her full awareness, whether that’s chewing on a bone, greeting a dog, bathing in sunlight. If she had a mantra, it would be the same one you see on the walls of 12 step meetings: “Keep it simple.” (“And play as often as possible!” Bella might add.)

 

  1. She sees the world with fresh eyes

When Bella and I go for walks around the neighborhood, she walks as far ahead of me as possible on the leash, and finds so much pleasure in the same route we take each day. She is a master of spotting and celebrating the newness of things, a flower in bloom, a different scent in the sky, an ant crawling across the sidewalk.

Rather than being lost in thought, her eyes sharpen to the present moment, and she notices the faintest of sounds, the tiniest of flowers and bugs. She stops to investigate all of it, never in a hurry. And sometimes, if I pay enough attention to her, this world becomes fresh for me again, too.

 

  1. She takes care of her body

When Bella is hungry, she eats. When she is tired, she sleeps. When she is thirsty, she laps up her water. Her thoughts have not disconnected her from her body, and she naturally takes care of it. She doesn’t overwork herself or starve herself or stay up all night jacked on coffee. She respects her tiny being, her precious life, — without even realizing she is doing so. And sometimes watching her take care of herself is the gentle nudge I need to put my computer down and eat breakfast. To go to bed. To take a deep, conscious breathe. To pause and ask my heart, body, and mind what it needs.

 

  1. She brings me back to the moment

I still frequently fall back into old but familiar thought patterns: harshness, perfectionism, anxiety. I hear the voice of my alcoholic father screaming when I was a child, or the rigidity that imprisoned me during the eight years I suffered from an eating disorder, and it makes me believe that peace is impossible. Maybe I should just give up already.

But then, this nonjudgemental, loving presence climbs into my lap. Bella loves me no matter how enlightened or unenlightened I am. She pays no attention to the pessimist or the worrier in me, and she doesn’t define me with the same limiting labels I use to define myself. When I hold her and look into her beady eyes, my heart calms, my awareness increases, and my seemingly inescapable problems fade into the background. I experience the here and now: Bella’s soft pant, the swish of her tail, the grassy scent of her fur, the air moving in and out of her lungs and mine.

 

  1. She is soft-hearted

Bella is soft-hearted, meaning she doesn’t wear some kind of armor around her heart to protect her from feeling. She doesn’t numb her pain with addiction, or feel the pressure to wear a “brave” face over her real, authentic one. Bella will never tell you she is “fine” or everything is “great” when it is not. Instead, she’ll tell you exactly what she’ is experiencing with the language of her body. She’ll tremble if she’s scared. She’ll leap into your arms if she wants affection. She’ll cry if she’s in pain. She doesn’t try to rationalize or justify what she’ is feeling;, she releases that emotion in the moment. And it reminds me to do the same.

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15 Sep

Dropping the Struggle with Change

by Roger Housden

 

Change itself is the one certainty we can be absolutely sure of. You might say this is obvious. We all know this already. Except that we don’t, or at least we don’t often act as if we do, when change arrives on our doorstep. We may have lived for years as the lead character in a story that has enabled us to feel secure in our job, in our family relationships, in our place in the world. Or we may have lived for decades secure in the story of our suffering, the injustice done to us, the bad hand we were given.

 

Either way, our belief in the story is what creates some sense of a solid identity, which in turn gives us the illusion of security. But then the house of cards can fall at any time, as we also know from our experience, which is why, deep down, however rosy our picture may seem, a constant vein of subliminal anxiety about what might happen next is likely to be running through us.

 

Our life is already, even now, slipping through our fingers. So given that nothing we are familiar with, including ourselves, is going to last, how can we live another day without breaking out into a cold sweat?

 

We can bow to whatever passes across our landscape. We can trust the inscrutable intelligence of the life that is living us, as it is showing up for us, in this very moment. If it is sorrow, let us make friends with sorrow. Let us not drown but swim in the waters of sorrow. Naomi Shihab Nye, in her wonderful poem “Kindness,” says that if you are ever to know what kindness really is,

 

You must lose things,

feel the future dissolve in a moment

like salt in a weakened broth.

 

Why does she say this? Because the experience of loss brings us close, not only to someone dear whom we may have lost but to the whole of humanity; for every individual has and always will know loss. Loss breaks the heart open, and when the heart breaks open we become a kindness to ourselves and to the world.

 

In the great themes of life — love, loss, parting, and death — poetry can surpass scripture in slipping the visceral experience of a deep truth into the bloodstream. It feeds the imagination with shimmering images more than the mind with the letter of the truth. In his Sonnets to Orpheus, Rilke urges us:

 

Want the change. Be inspired by the flame

Where everything shines as it disappears.

(translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy)

 

Exquisite image! Why does he exhort us to want the change? Because change is the way it is. We harbor notions of what is good for us and what is not, and try to organize and strategize accordingly. Yet life does what it does without concern for our preferences, so Rilke is urging us to look beyond the parade of circumstances and events to the fundamental fact of change itself. In wanting the change, we are aligning ourselves with truth, with what is already happening.

 

We flow rather than self-consciously make our way. In that flow, the sense of who we are and where we are going becomes more malleable and fluid, more responsive to the conditions around us instead of bound by fixed beliefs and agendas. In the flow of change, we forget ourselves, and a deeper remembrance emerges — the remembrance of being always and ever joined to a greater life — not as an elegant concept but as a lived experience in the moment.

 

So Rilke is urging us to want the change that is happening, to embrace it, whatever it is. If we are in the middle of a divorce, let it be that. If we have lost our job, let it be that, and if we are dying, may it be so. Of course it’s not easy. Nobody willingly allows herself to be dismembered, torn apart, crushed like a grape between the fingers. The ego will never assent to the sacrifice of the story it has so lovingly tended. The impulse must come from something else in us, another organ of awareness, you might say, that knows somehow, however much it hurts, however much we may be on the rack — a sacrificial lamb, it may seem to us — that what is happening is true, necessary, inevitable, and ultimately, therefore, good. .

 

# # #

 

Roger Housden is the author of Dropping the Struggle and numerous other books, including the best-selling Ten Poems series, which began in 2001 with Ten Poems to Change Your Life and ended with Ten Poems to Say Goodbye in 2012. Visit him online at www.RogerHousden.com.

 

Excerpted from the book Dropping the Struggle: Seven Ways to Love the Life You Have. Copyright © 2016 by Roger Housden.

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06 Sep

Secrets of the I Ching

Secrets-of-the-IChingIn her documentary, THE SECRETS OF I CHING, filmmaker Bettina Wilhelm goes in search of the life and achievements of her grandfather, Richard Wilhelm, by following in his footsteps through China and Europe. She combines historical exposition with pictures of China today in pursuit of the essential theme of Richard Wilhelm’s life: to discover how the great truths and wisdom of mankind can outlast historical change and continue to retain their relevance. Richard Wilhelm was fascinated by the cultural heritage of the universal wisdom he discovered in the Chinese classics. With his translations he tried to impart these Chinese cultural treasures, so that Europe and the West might meet together, eye to eye and on a par. Wilhelm’s indefatigable efforts and the fascinating texts he made available, give the film a longlasting vibrancy.

Richard Wilhelm came to China as a young missionary, where he soon set up a mission that went against conventional expectation. He did not baptize a single Chinese. Instead he strove towards an understanding of Chinese thinking. China was being bled to death by the colonial powers and Richard Wilhelm experienced at first hand revolts against foreigners, the passing of the imperial-dynasties and the First World War. During a time of such turbulent upheaval, he searched relentlessly for the deepest truths that might enable people to deal with the changes and to shape their own lives. He accomplished some of the greatest works of translation of the 20th century: CONFUCIUS, LAOTSE, other classical texts of DAOISM and, most importantly, the I CHING, THE BOOK OF CHANGES. This book has served as an inspiration for many readers. Even today, Wilhelm is considered one of the most distinguished mediators of Chinese culture in the West.

Whilst Wilhelm’s translation of Confucius and Laotse arose from his own personal quest, it was a Chinese scholar who drew his attention to the I GING, THE BOOK OF CHANGES, one of the most complex works of Chinese culture and philosophy. Like other imperial magistrates in 1911 after the decline of the empire and China’s transformation into a republic, the scholar had taken refuge in the German leased territory of Qingdao. Wilhelm was both fascinated and worried by the tremendous changes taking place in China and in the world at large. Like C. G. Jung, with whom he was friends from the 1920s, he searched for universal wisdom that could withstand historical change. It was Wilhelm’s translation of the I Ging, transcribed from German into English, which lead to the wide circulation in the West of The Book of Changes and to its being held to be one of the greatest and most relevant of classical Chinese texts.

BIOGRAPHY RICHARD WILHELM

Born in Stuttgart in 1873, Richard Wilhelm went to Qingdao in 1899 as a young missionary with the East Asia Mission at a time when the territory was leased to Germany. He founded a school there, which still exists today and bears his name, as well as a hospital.  He was an unusual missionary for throughout his entire life he never baptized a single Chinese. Instead he allowed himself to be converted to Chinese wisdom. The times he lived through were turbulent. In 1900 the so-called Boxer Rebellion broke out against foreigners who had colonised the country. During this period, Wilhelm was no mere observer. When German troups attacked Chinese villages he, together with a Chinese doctor, intervened as negotiator thus avoiding further bloodshed.  In 1911 he experienced a tremendous turning point in Chinese history when the country became a republic after more than two thousand years of empire. During the first World War, Germany had lost its Chinese colony and Qingdao was occupied by the Japanese. In the face of dire conditions, Richard Wilhelm retained his ironic sense of humour, enabling him to observe events as they unfolded with relative objectivity.
In 1920 he returned to Germany for a short period, where he met with C. G. Jung, Albert Schweizer, Hermann Hesse and Count Keyserling. Once more he spent two more years in China, this time not as a missionary but as scientific advisor to the German embassy and a visiting professor at the Beida, the University of Beijing.  In 1924 he assumed the first chair of Sinology at the University of Frankfurt, where he also founded the China Institute to further cultural exchange and research into the most profound truths that unite different cultures and periods of time. His friendship with C. G. Jung deepened, with whom he published the book, THE SECRET OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER.

Richard Wilhelm died in 1930 at the age of 56. He is buried at the graveyard of Bad Boll in Swabia. The eight symbols, which make up the cornerstone of the I Ching, surround his grave.

I CHING – THE BOOK OF CHANGES

For some time the I Ching has not only been known by experts, but from the 1970s in particular by a broader public as well. The I Ching is one of the oldest books of mankind, whose oracle was consulted by Chinese emperors since more than three thousand years ago whenever important decisions had to be made. In the course of succeeding centuries it was augmented by the flower of Chinese wisdom in the form of added commentaries by great scholars. Thus it became the fundamental philosophical text of Chinese culture. One might compare the significance of the I Ching in China with that of the Bible in Christian cultures. In the West Richard Wilhelm’s translation of the Book of Changes influenced a whole generation during the 1970s, who were seeking a deeper understanding of life. It remains a “perennial,“ which is reprinted over and over again.

 

THE SECRETS OF I CHING, is narrated by internationally acclaimed award-winning actor, Jonathan Pryce, known for his outstanding performances on both stage and screen, including the lead in Brazil, Glengarry Glen Ross and Age of Innocence, as well as James Bond villian Elliot Carver in Tomorrow Never Dies, and most recently The High Sparrow in HBO’s Game of Thrones. 

THE SECRETS OF I CHING is currently available on VOD at DirecTV and Dish; Digital platforms include Google Play, Amazon, MicroSoft, Vudu, Vubiquity and Hoopla.

 

Connect with us:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SecretsofIChing

For more information, please visit: http://www.wisdom-of-changes-i-ching-the-movie.com

 

 

TriCoastLandBlackPR CONTACT:

Maggi Simpson

Tricoast Entertainment

Maggi@Tricoast.com

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29 Aug

Through the Fire Excerpt

This is an excerpt from “Through the Fire: Cooking Our Way Into a New Relationship With Food” by Charity Dasenbrock. charitydasenbrock.com

Some of the Basics

Michael Pollan, well-known author and lecturer about food and cooking, says that cooking is what will save the health of our people, community, world, and Mother Earth:

“The decline of everyday home cooking doesn’t only damage the health of our bodies and our land but also our families, our communities, and our sense of how our eating connects us to the world. Our growing distance from any direct, physical engagement with the processes by which the raw stuff of nature gets transformed into a cooked meal is changing our understanding of what food is. Indeed, the idea that food has any connection to nature or human work or imagination is hard to accept when it arrives in a neat package, fully formed. Food becomes just another commodity, an abstraction.”

In the United States, the birthplace of fast food, Americans eat fewer than 70 percent of their meals at home (this does not mean that the food was cooked at home) and less than a third of American families eat meals together more than twice a week, according to Emory University. At least 1 in 4 Americans eat some sort of fast food everyday and consume 1/3 more processed food than fresh. This fact, together with the epidemic of body image issues, points toward a need for fundamental change in American food culture. As we collectively return to the kitchen and the home-cooked meal, this will significantly alter the direction of nutrition and our relationship with food.

This includes not just cooking at home but eating as a family or community as well. Children and adults benefit greatly from the ritual of eating meals together. Family meals provide opportunities for sharing the day’s events and create a relaxing transition from busy daytime activities to slower-paced evening ones. Cooking meals at home and involving your children in food preparation is the best way to teach them healthy eating habits. Statistically, children who grow up in households where meals are eaten together perform better academically and show less tendency toward engaging in risky behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, and taking drugs, according to Washington State University nutrition researchers Martha Marina and Sue Butkus. I wish there were similar statistics about adult behavior, things like productivity, work days lost due to illness, etc.

We must return to the kitchen. For us to thrive, we must teach ourselves and our children the love of cooking. We all need to work on creating a culture where this is possible. There are many out there pushing this, and many out there who say it is an elitist cultural “problem.” Poor, unemployed, poverty-level people don’t have the luxury of worrying about this. They have enough to worry about just having enough food to eat, period. We as a culture owe it to our future to make sure no one is hungry and that we all have access to nutritious food.

Michael Pollan also says that:

“The food industry has done a great job of convincing eaters that corporations can cook better than we can. The problem is, it’s not true. And the food that others cook is nearly always less healthful than that which we cook ourselves. But how can we convince folks to give it a try? I think we have to lead with pleasure. Aside from the many health benefits, cooking is also one of the most interesting things humans know how to do and have done for a very long time. And we get that, or we wouldn’t be watching so much cooking on TV. There is something fascinating about it. But it’s even more fascinating when you do it yourself.”

We need to return to that intimate connection with our food. Eating is a very intimate act and experience, as cooking can be. There is no intimacy when food is planted and picked by machines, processed by machines, and then placed in a machine for cooking. The food never touches the hands (or the soul) of the eater or of the cook. The enjoyment of food is a beautiful gift given us by Mother Earth. It truly is the gift of life. No other animal experiences eating the way humans can and do. We eat for more than survival. Our food deserves to be treated with respect, love, and pleasure. We deserve to treat ourselves with that same respect, love, and pleasure.

Cooking and eating are about nourishment as well as nutrition. We can define nourishment as providing the materials necessary for life and growth from a biologic perspective. It is also about emotions, and means to support and encourage feelings, ideas, etc. Nourishment in all its forms is necessary.

There are many reasons why we cook. (For the purposes of this book, I am placing preparing food for the raw food diet in with cooking.) Some reasons are purely practical in that we have to get food on the table for our families and us to eat. Some reasons involve the science and geeky experimentation of it, or the art and beauty of it. Some reasons involve the pleasure of creating and the pleasure of eating. Some reasons involve the spiritual and holy nature of it. All cultures, races, and classes do some form of cooking. Just as eating the way we do is a uniquely human activity, so is cooking. Cooking directly connotes us with our food. It connects us with the rest of the world and our human family. It connects us to the rhythms and energy of the earth and that which we believe created it. It connects us with ourselves.

How we cook is how we are in the world.

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