Guest Bloggers, Author at Coffey Talk

02 May

Interview with Divya Alter

By Divya Alter

April 25, 2017

What’s the food philosophy behind Divya’s Kitchen and your new cookbook?

Food can heal. It can help us keep our bodies in good health so that we focus on the things we are meant to do in this life. At Divya’s Kitchen we serve delicious food that our body and mind say YES to . Our food philosophy is deeply rooted in the authentic tradition of Shaka Vansiya (SV) Ayurveda that meets us where we are today. In my cookbook, I explain how to select the seasonal foods that are suitable for your digestion and lifestyle and how to combine them into delicious meals. Eating fresh, invigorating foods gradually restores our body’s innate intelligence to heal itself.

How did you get into Ayurvedic cooking?

I was already a trained cook when my health began to decline with an autoimmune disease. In my search for solutions for a problem modern medicine could not cure, I met my SV Ayurveda teacher, Vaidya RK Mishra. He was not only a master doctor, but also an expert cook and taught a lot about the healing powers of food. I studied with him for years. I was so impressed by how the SV Ayurvedic diet and treatment worked for me (now my autoimmune disorder is completely gone!) that my husband and I decided to dedicate our careers SV Ayurveda culinary education and food service, to make the wonderful benefits of Ayurvedic food more accessible.

How practical is it for folks to adopt an Ayurvedic lifestyle?

Adopting an Ayurvedic lifestyle is very individual and different for everyone, but everyone can start with simple small steps. See what is practical for you right now! Cleaning your tongue morning and evening after you brush your teeth could be a good start—this will remove toxic residue, freshen your breath, and sharpen your taste buds. Another simple step is to always eat seated—if you have the habit of eating while standing (or walking), sitting down would be an easy healthy change that will also improve your digestion. I would say, if you are thinking to add Ayurveda to your lifestyle, start with the simple things that will build the foundation for bigger changes when you’re ready for them.

If you could make over the way most people eat, what would you change?

This is a difficult question, as the way we eat is rooted deeply in our economic and social structure. But let me dream on: I would change the structure of our society to transform uncontrolled consumerism into conscious economics; convert from cruel to compassionate, from toxic to environmentally clean. I would encourage economic structure that supports people growing their own food as much as possible—this will increase our appreciation of our food and earth. I would make fresh, organic, wholesome foods be standard (and cheapest!) ingredients in our diet; I would also gradually eliminate all processed and artificial foods. I would revert back to the ages-long tradition of families cooking at home and eating together. I would include food, nutrition, and cooking education in all school curriculums.

What is the biggest misconception people have about Ayurvedic cooking?

I think there are misconceptions about everything, including Ayurveda and diet! A common misconception is that Ayurvedic diet is all Indian food. It really does not have to be. Ayurveda is a universal science that originated before India existed and can be applied and practiced everywhere on the planet. For example, an Italian who is not familiar with or used to Indian ingredients and flavors, can still prepare satisfying and healthy Ayurvedic meals with Italian flavors. With my cookbook and restaurant, I like to show how to “ayurvedize” dishes from different cuisines.

Another misconception is that Ayurveda is all about the doshas and we should only eat according to our “dosha.” This is not completely true. While considering our mind-body type, we also have to factor in our current imbalances, the strength of our digestion, our age, the season, and how stressed we are. For example, if I am of Vata-Pitta (airy-fiery) constitution, but I currently have a Kapha imbalance of feeling congested and sluggish, I have to follow more of a Kapha balancing diet to get better.

I’ve also seen many Ayurvedic recipes that include rather inflammatory and clogging ingredients, such as soy, nightshades, onions and garlic, mushrooms. Eating such foods regularly may lead to more imbalance than balance. If you’re looking for the most medicinal food combinations in a delicious meal, SV Ayurveda recommends to avoid these ingredients in daily cooking.

What is your favorite recipe in this book for this season, or the one you find yourself cooking most often?

The one recipe that I inevitably cook almost every morning is the Cooked Apple Pre-Breakfast—this is the simplest and fastest recipe in my book that Vaidya Mishra recommended for most people to eat every day, first thing in the morning. It does not require any culinary experience and it is a good recipe for beginners to build their confidence in the kitchen.

These days I also like to make the Asparagus and Sunchoke Salad and the Asparagus and Daikon Radish Soup—they support our detox cycle in spring.

At Divya’s Kitchen we serve several seasonal recipes from my book: Sprouted Mung Salad, Crispy Puffed Rice, Irresistible Buckwheat Cake, Ginger Mint Limeade and more.

Divya Alter is a certified nutritional consultant and educator in the Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda tradition. She is the cofounder of Bhagavat Life, the only Ayurvedic culinary school in New York. She and her husband launched North America’s first Ayurvedic chef certification program and Divya’s Kitchen, an authentic Ayurvedic restaurant in Manhattan. Divya’s new cookbook, What to Eat for How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen, was published by Rizzoli in April, 2017.

21 Apr

Experiencing Aloneness and Its Opposite

An excerpt from Live Your Happy by Maria Felipe

Before she was an author and a minister, Reverend Maria Felipe was an actress, a model, and a TV host with a fabulous French boyfriend. She appeared in national commercials, was the first ever Latina boxing announcer, and interviewed World Wrestling Federation competitors in front of audiences of twenty thousand people. People Magazine in Espanol even referred to her as “Una Campeona Sin rival,” which means a champion without rival. But through it all, she felt insecure, unworthy, and downright miserable.

All that began to change when she began to study a book called A Course in Miracles (ACIM), and eventually went on to get her ministerial certificate from an ACIM school known as Pathways of Light. “This self-study spiritual thought system helps students develop a relationship with the ‘internal teacher’ it calls the Holy Spirit, which in turn helps us change how we see the world on a daily basis,” writes Maria. “This ‘shift in perception’ is what ACIM calls a miracle.”

In Live Your Happy: Get Out of Your Own Way and Find the Love Within (New World Library, April 22, 2017), Maria shares more than twenty years of experience studying and living the principles from ACIM. This is not a philosophic explanation of the Course. It is a practical, hands-on guide for actually living it. We hope you’ll enjoy this excerpt from the book.

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I became a host for the World Wrestling Federation after winning an audition over five hundred other young women. You would think I would feel so happy: ¡Gracias Dios mío! This is the gig of a lifetime, national TV and such a prestigious company….But I was in the middle of the depression I described above; I was a hot mess, and I still got the job! Sometimes we create experiences to feed our growth, and we don’t necessarily have to be in a happy place to manifest them. There was a reason for this job, and I was going to have to live it and learn from it.

I did learn — by suffering a lot. Because I had no sense of an inner companion to bear me through difficulties, I felt as if I was not worthy of the job, even though I won a tough audition. I was insecure about my Spanish because my accent is Cuban, and Mexican is preferred on Spanish TV. On top of that, WWF shows were filmed live, meaning that any mistake I made would be seen live by thousands. On my very first show, I remember going down the ramp in front of twenty thousand people while I listened to an earphone as the director told me, “Maria, get out there and interview the wrestlers next to the ring, then come back up the ramp with them.” It felt like mi corazón was coming out of my chest!

This was such a challenge, not because of the job itself, but because I thought I had to succeed all on my own. I went on to do fifty episodes and worked with such amazing talents as El Hijo del Santo, Negro Casas, Papi Chulo, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin — and, let’s not forget, a midget wrestler named Mini Max, who was my scripted love crush on the show. Despite all the attention and seeming success, my almost paralyzing insecurities continued throughout this amazing gig. I spent a lot of time on tour in my hotel rooms getting on my knees, praying to God, and reading the Bible.

Looking back on all that, I recognize that sometimes our deepest pains bring us closer to God so that we can learn and grow. With spiritual maturity, I have discovered that I can learn through joy, without the need for so much pain.

In early 2012 I was asked to start the Spanish ministry at Unity Burbank Center for Spiritual Awareness in California. At first I was a bit scared, thinking: I don’t know how to run a ministry, and I am not even a minister yet. I wasn’t set to be ordained until November. Even though I was anxious, I was open and willing to hear that still small voice within me that said yes! So I stepped into the position and began to create a program and find musicians. I would constantly ask the Holy Spirit for help, and my goal was always to feel joy through the process. I am not going to say I did not feel nervous when I gave my first talk — although it quickly went away when I remembered: This is not about “me,” Maria the separated self who must be perfect. No, this time the opportunity was all about us — that is, an opportunity to extend love and remember that I am not alone.

Our suffering increases whenever our mind-set is self-centered, focusing on thoughts like what can I get, how can I get them to like me, how can I keep this job, and so on. In our struggle to “make a name” for ourselves, stake our claim, and prove our individual worth, we make the separation real and condemn ourselves to loneliness and misery. By contrast, when we regard whatever we’re doing as a kind of ministry — focusing on thoughts like what can I give, how can I be of service, how will my actions benefit everyone — then we will inevitably experience joy and happiness. Another way of expressing this truth is that all that is real is love.

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Maria Felipe is the author of Live Your Happy. After experiencing success as a model and actress, including hosting World Wrestling Federation TV shows, she felt called inward and studied to become a reverend at Pathways of Light, an accredited religious school inspired by A Course in Miracles. She leads monthly services in both Spanish and English at Unity Church in Burbank, CA. Visit her online at www.MariaFelipe.org.

18 Apr

The Discipline of Happiness

Excerpt from:

Meditation for Daily Stress: 10 Practices for Immediate Well-Being

Abrams Books, April 2017

Discovering neuroscience was a revelation to me. It taught me that we are not the slaves of our past. We have the capacity to change every day, every minute, to reproduce new neurons until our last day. We don’t have to possess bad character; we are not our traumas. We are not our past. We are not our mental habits. We can change now, immediately. This is not wishful thinking or fantasy. It is the reality of human neuroplasticity—our ability to alter our brain’s neural synapses and pathways—and it is achievable through the practice of meditation.

Our brain is a muscle, and every day is a chance to develop the brain. We can further build and enhance our character, our determination, our happiness, our intuition, and our freedom.

Yes, we really can do this! We can become more present, more intelligent, more compassionate, and much more free. Right now. The goal of meditation is to live a freer, clearer, and happier life. One day, a novice asked Saint Therese of Lisieux, “What is faith?” Therese replied, “Faith is happiness, because everything is a blessing and a grace.”

To train your mind and to meditate can become the ultimate revelation of your life. Yes, you can! Yes, it is possible! Everyday when I see my students, and when I see the people I am working with at the Amity Foundation—a community rehabilitation center in Los Angeles that is dedicated to the inclusion and habilitation of prisoners, parolees, children, and families marginalized by homelessness, poverty, addiction, crime, racism, sexism, trauma, and violence—it makes me cry. I see how simple it is, in reality, to make a difference.

What do we need to improve our lives? Determination and discipline. Why is it so difficult to meditate? There are two primary reasons:

Our false perception of meditation. The cliché of the monk who meditates for many hours in his shrine or on a mountaintop has encouraged a false perception of the practice. This standard image has made meditation seem unachievable, because our daily lives are not in sync with the fantasy.

We must learn that to meditate and to train our minds is possible in just a few minutes per day, anytime, and anywhere. We must see how every situation in our life is an occasion to train our determination.

Our false perception of discipline. We have been taught that the practice of discipline is like an effort against ourselves. Think about

the quest of losing weight. We know it is possible, but to make the effort and be disciplined is too difficult, especially in the midst of our daily stress. How can we find the energy to meditate when we have no energy left just to live our lives? How is discipline possible when we are very busy and overbooked every day? Why must discipline be sad, strict, and negative?

Discipline means freedom. Every day, we can take a few minutes to feel better. We develop a near chemical addiction to happiness, peace, and a quiet mind.

We need only a few minutes to meditate every day. The most important goal here is not the quantity but the quality of the practice. In just one minute, we have the ability to touch our soul and the spiritual dimension. We can be connected to the eternity of the universe in a very short amount of time. We must prioritize the quality of our meditation practice over the duration of it. Every situation is a wonderful occasion to meditate, to feel at peace immediately.

Every time we wake up in bed is an opportunity.
Every coffee we have is an opportunity.
Every moment in traffic is an opportunity.
Every moment we are in the subway, on a train, or riding

the bus is an opportunity.
Every time we arrive at our workplace is an opportunity.

Life is like a movie; there is a start and an end. After each new movie, each new moment is a new reincarnation. Life keeps going on. Most of the time, we are the actors in our life movie.

We are directed by our emotions and our mental habits. To practice meditation opens the mind to another perception of consciousness. Day after day, we become less the actor and more the director. When we practice and we train our minds, suddenly one day we will be out of the movie, out of the set, and out of the screen. We will find ourselves sitting down at the front row of our theater.

We will have a different perception of our movie. We will see our emotions as a director sees his actors. By then, we can say to an actor, “I don’t like how you act. I won’t keep you in my cast.” We can say the same thing for our emotions. For example, when we see that we are anxious and we don’t like it, we can say, “I’m sorry dear anxious emotion, dear actor, I am canceling your contract. You are no longer in my movie. Get out!”

The goal of meditation is not to become more spiritual or religious. It is to become more present, calmer, happier, and freer. These are the goals of this life, after all.

Michel-Hi-Res-Photo Michel Pascal is a French author, meditation teacher, singer, filmmaker, and photographer. Michel’s unique brand of meditation is being practiced at Google, Harvard University, and many other major organizations. Before moving to the United States, Pascal lived in the Kopan Monastery in the Himalayas. He has spent more than 15 years adapting traditional teachings and practices for students around the world. Pascal lives in Los Angeles.

13 Apr

Going to church: Is it worth it? Yes! New study says it lowers risk of suicide among women

By Joy Stephenson-Laws

Despite the increasing awareness surrounding mental health issues, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. However, a study published in JAMA Psychiatry sheds light on an unexpected source of suicide prevention — church!

Researchers studied more than 20 years’ worth of data from nearly 90,000 women ages 30-55, looking for any associations between religious service attendance and suicide. What they found? Attending a religious service once a week or more was associated with an approximately five times lower suicide rate compared with those who never attended religious services! Most of the women who attended church were Catholic or Protestant.

When drawing their conclusions, the researchers noted that they were careful to account for other factors that would affect suicide risk, such as lifestyle, medical history, depressive symptoms and social integration.

While an association does not prove a cause and effect relationship, it is certainly worth keeping in mind. Perhaps the women felt a greater sense of meaning, belonging and support from their church communities.

Another way to prevent suicide is to look for the signs.

Suicide warning signs may include:

Talking about wanting to die or wanting to kill themselves
Talking about feeling empty, hopeless or having no reason to live
Making a suicide plan by searching online, stockpiling pills or buying a gun
Talking about a great amount of guilt or shame
Talking about feeling trapped or feeling there are no solutions
Feeling unbearable pain (emotional pain or physical pain)
Talking about being a burden to others
Using alcohol or drugs more often
Acting anxious or agitated
Withdrawing from family and friends
Changing eating and/or sleeping habits
Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
Taking great risks that could lead to death, such as driving extremely fast
Talking or thinking about death often
Displaying extreme mood swings, suddenly changing from very sad to very calm or happy
Giving away important possessions
Saying goodbye to friends and family
Putting affairs in order, making a will

If you or someone you know may be at risk, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You can also text The Crisis Text Line: 741741. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889.

Find more resources here.

Enjoy Your Healthy Life!

Joy Stephenson-Laws is the founder of Proactive Health Labs (www.phlabs.org), a national non-profit health information company that provides education and tools needed to achieve optimal health. Her most recent book is Minerals – The Forgotten Nutrient: Your Secret Weapon for Getting and Staying Healthy, available through Amazon, iTunes and bookstores. All proceeds from the book will be donated to The Bili Project Foundation, an organization devoted to reducing the incident and improve the outcome of Hepatobilary cancers, which are cancers of the liver, gallbladder, or bile ducts. Connect with Proactive Health Labs on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, and at www.phlabs.org.

10 Apr

Is there something that humans just don’t understand about life?

Yes—and it’s huge

By Neale Donald Walsch

How is it possible for seven billion human beings to all want the same thing—safety, security, peace, prosperity, opportunity, happiness, and love—yet be unable to produce it for any but the tiniest percentage, even after thousands of years of trying?

I pose this question wherever I appear on my speaking tours, but I rarely get a satisfactory answer.

That’s because most people do not understand the nature of the problem. As a result, we keep trying to solve the problem at every level except the level at which the problem exists.

First, we try to solve the problems as if they were political problems. We author legislation, we pass resolutions, we issue declarations and sign documents, we create governments and then, by vote or by force, dismantle the governments we have created—we try everything we can think of politically, and yet we are faced with the same problems today that we have faced for centuries, and indeed, for millennia.

So we say, obviously these are not political problems. They must be economic problems. And we then try in every way that we can to manipulate how cash flows around the problems. We throw money at them (as in the sending of foreign aid), or we withhold money from them (as in the imposition of economic sanctions). We try everything we can think of economically, and yet we are faced with the same problems today that we have faced for centuries, and indeed, for millennia.

So we say, obviously these are not economic problems, they must be military problems. And then we shoot bullets at them and drop bombs on them and fire missiles into them. We try everything we can think of militarily, and yet we are faced with the same problems today that we have faced for centuries, and indeed, for millennia.

So we say, it’s time to stop the fighting and go back to the bargaining table. We need to negotiate a settlement. And the cycle starts all over again. We pass more resolutions, then we impose more sanctions, then we drop more bombs, all the while crying out plaintively: “There must be a solution somewhere.”

Yet the problem facing humanity is not a political problem, it is not an economic problem, and it is not a military problem. It is a spiritual problem, and it can only be solved by spiritual means.

My Conversations with God book series—the first entry of which was published in 1995—has been read by millions and been translated into 37 languages worldwide, and I have been answering questions about the content of those books for over 20 years. So I have some well-worn opinions on what I call “humanity’s dilemma.”

It seems to me that nothing we are doing is working. Our political systems clearly are not working. Our economic systems clearly are not working. Our ecological systems clearly are not working. Our health care systems clearly are not working. Our educational systems clearly are not working. Our social systems clearly are not working. And saddest of all, our spiritual systems clearly are not working.

Nothing that we have created to produce a better life for all of us is producing that outcome for the largest number of people. In fact, it is worse than that. They are actually producing exactly the opposite.

It is time to arouse humanity from its slumber. There is obviously something we don’t understand, both about life and about God, the understanding of which would change everything.

I have catalogued what I consider to be humanity’s major misunderstandings in my latest book, Conversations with God-Book 4: Awaken the Species. I offer seven tools for integrating the behaviors of fully awakened beings into an average person’s daily life.

Perhaps the most startling assertion of my new book, however, is not about current human behaviors, but the behaviors of extraterrestrial beings—who I am convinced not only exist, but are actively working to help the people of Earth grow in their understanding.

My book includes a list of what I believe are sixteen crucial differences in behavior between what I describe as “Highly Evolved Beings living in an awakened state” and those human beings who are not.

I understand that such an assertion will meet with skepticism at best, and derision in some quarters for sure. Still, I think most people now accept that we are not alone in the cosmos, and most would be comforted to know that benevolent beings are seeking to help us move forward in our evolutionary process.

Yet if such beings are helping, one might ask, why is our planet now facing crisis after crisis, with terrorism destroying lives, economic dreams being shattered, and unpredictable political upheaval emerging everywhere?

In my view, the fact that these conditions exist make this the perfect time for our advancement. They comprise the storm before the calm, their severity serving to shake humanity from its complacency, awakening us to what now urgently needs to be done if we are to keep the promise of our potential.

I was told all of this in my latest conversations with God, a communication with the Divine that I believe all people are having all the time. Most people are simply calling it something else. A moment of inspiration, perhaps. A sudden insight. A wonderful or brilliant idea. An intuitive sense. Some have even labeled such moments an epiphany.

People will call it whatever they have to call it to get away with sharing their experience without having to claim that God spoke to them, or that Divine revelations had anything to do with it.

Whatever words we use, we are talking here about the expansion of awareness that arises from the place of highest wisdom within all of us. It is the daring vision of Galileo, the incisive clarity of Socrates, the expansive understanding of Simone de Beauvoir, the intellectual bravery of Gertrude Stein, the pure genius of Madam Curie and Albert Einstein that resides within everyone, awaiting our access and our use.

Book 4 in the Conversations with God series contains an invitation to human beings to choose to be among those who commit to moving forward their own individual and personal evolution by embracing and demonstrating behaviors that serve to awaken the species to who and what human beings really are (Individuations of Divinity), and how that may be made manifest in daily experience.

The book comes out late March from Rainbow Ridge Books, distributed by Square One Publishers in New York.

NDW Photo

–Neale Donald Walsch is the New York Times Bestselling author of nine books in the Conversations with God series, which have sold more than ten million copies in 37 languages. He is one of the major authors in the new spirituality movement, having written 29 books, with eight books on the New York Times bestseller’s list. His life and work have helped to create and sustain a worldwide spiritual renaissance, and he travels globally to bring the uplifting message of the CwG books to people everywhere.

06 Apr

When Someone You Love is Dying

Guest Bloggers
Advice, Family, Purpose, Spirituality

An excerpt from Words at the Threshold by Lisa Smartt

When her father became terminally ill with cancer, Lisa Smartt began transcribing his conversations and noticed that his personality underwent inexplicable changes. Once a skeptical man with a secular worldview, he developed a deeply spiritual outlook in his final days — a change that was reflected in his language. Baffled, intrigued, and compelled by her linguistics training, Smartt grabbed pencil and paper and tracked his final words.

The inquiry that began with her father’s language went on to become the Final Words Project, in which she collected and analyzed hundreds of final words for their linguistic patterns and themes.

In her new book Words at the Threshold: What We Say as We’re Nearing, Smartt decodes the symbolism of those last words, showing how the language of the dying points the way to a transcendent world beyond our own. We hope you’ll enjoy this short excerpt from the book.

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If you are facing the death of a beloved right now, I invite you to write down the words you hear — even those that seem to make no sense — without editing, fearing, or judging them. As you transcribe the words, and as you read through these chapters, you may discover that the very changes you hear in your beloved’s language, which may seem scary and confusing, may ultimately bring you comfort and meaning.

Jewels often emerge as we listen closely and write down final words, and the transcription process can help us feel more connected to our loved ones and even closer to Source. Many times the dying say things that don’t make sense at the moment. But months or years later, you will find hints of prophecy or answers to questions in those words.

Here are some suggestions for you to use as you courageously and compassionately witness final words.

Enter the world of your beloved. Imagine you are visiting a new country. Keep an open heart and mind. Record in a final words journal what you hear, see, and feel; it will be your private travelogue about that other place. You may be surprised later by the pearls of wisdom you find there.
Have eyes for the sacred. If possible, imagine that the territory you have entered is sacred ground, despite the terrible loss looming before you. Be open to the possibility that something transpersonal is occurring, and that the words you hear are tracking its course.
Validate your loved one’s words and experiences. Repeat back what your beloved has said, to let the person know you heard it: “Oh, your modality is broken. I would love to know more about that.” Avoid telling your beloved that what he or she is seeing or saying is wrong or “not real.”
Be a student of the language. Since you are in a new country, learn its language. Study it. Practice it. Speak it. Listen for the symbols and metaphors that are meaningful to your beloved and then use them when you communicate. For example, ask, “Would you like me to help you find your passport?” When you hear things that sound nonsensical, simply think, “Oh, that’s how they phrase things in this country!”
Ask questions with authenticity and curiosity. It’s okay to let the dying person know you are confused and would love to hear more of what he or she wants to communicate. “Could you tell me more abou..?”
Assume your loved one can hear you even when unresponsive or quiet; let the dying person know how deep your love goes. As we die, our sense of hearing is the last sense to go. When you are in another room, and especially when you are speaking about your beloved, speak with lots of praise and gratitude. Speak words that will bring joy or comfort to the person.
Savor silence. Sometimes it is better to just sit with your loved one. When words don’t build bridges, know that the dying may be much more attuned to telepathic or other nonverbal communication, much like the kind of communication we experience when we pray. Speak to the person you love as you would in prayer.

Healing Grief

Your listening to and honoring final words will make the dying process easier for your beloved. At the same time, transcribing the words can be healing for you as you move through the loss of someone you love. Make a journal out of the words you’re writing down. Remember that the words that don’t make sense are as important as the ones that do. Notice metaphors or symbols that are repeated, and paradoxical phrases. Are there certain colors or shapes that are repeated? Are there references to people or places you do not see? Meanings may not be clear at first, but when you write down the words you have heard, you may find comforting or healing associations.

What might seem senseless to a stranger may hold deep personal meaning to you. Final words can be like dreams. We learn so much by reflecting upon these words and free-associating with them. In your final-words journal, write down the words you hear, and allow yourself to free-associate. Imagine the words are those of an oracle, or the wisdom of dreams, and let them evoke images and reflections in you. You may be surprised and moved by what emerges.

My mother and I created raku-fired plaques of my father’s final words in honor of his memory. Art is a powerful healing tool. Many times, the best way to process grief is without language. Taking final words and building art with them and through them brings us to a greater understanding of their meaning and of those we love. Integrating final words with art is one way to keep the portal open between the living and the dying, and a way to honor those who left before us.

Shedding Light on the Path of Consciousness

If you are not currently facing the loss of someone you love, it is my hope that this book will offer you the tools for when you do. Perhaps it will also answer your questions about an afterlife and deepen your appreciation of the connection between language and consciousness.

As much as the death of a beloved is grief-filled, it is often also a sacred time. The language at the end of life offers a pathway to a better understanding of the spiritual quality of dying and living — and can help us develop deeper connections with our beloveds. With each word we transcribe, we are invited into the consciousness of those we care about as they transition.

The continuum of language in the communications of the dying includes an increase in symbolic and metaphoric language, repetition, sustained narratives, various kinds of paradoxical and situational “nonsense,” and a variety of other linguistic patterns that shed light on the path of consciousness that we traverse as we die. By analyzing the language of those who have had near-death experiences, we can learn from these accounts about words at the threshold.

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Lisa Smartt, MA, is a linguist, educator, poet and author of Words at the Threshold. She founded the Final Words Project, an ongoing study devoted to collecting and interpreting the mysterious language at the end of lives. She lives in Athens, Georgia. Visit her online at www.FinalWordsProject.org.

04 Apr

FIVE WAYS AYAHUASCA IS CHANGING LIVES FOR THE BETTER

Guest post by Rachel Harris, PhD, author of LISTENING TO AYAHUASCA

Ayahuasca is a tea composed of two plants from the Amazon rain forest. It’s considered a medicine by the growing number of Westerners who are drinking ayahuasca in sacred ceremonies in search of psychospiritual healing.

In my research, “A Study of Ayahuasca Use in North America,” published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, eighty-one people completed a sixteen-page questionnaire describing how they changed after their experience of drinking this powerful brew. In addition, I personally interviewed another fifty people, again focusing on what happened after the ceremony, asking, “How are you different? How has your life changed?”

The self-reports from the questionnaires and interviews revealed five ways that ayahuasca is helping people change their lives for the better.

1. Positive Sense of Self: Perhaps the most important change people reported was that they felt better about themselves and felt that they had a right to exist. People said things like: “I’m more accepting of myself, more loving, kind, and patient. I have more self-confidence, take better care of myself, and have greater understanding. I’m less critical.” This last statement is important therapeutically, since a harsh inner critic can be constantly demoralizing in daily life.

On a more spiritual level, individuals reported the experience of being flooded with love. This sensation ranges from the comfort of a warm bath to ecstatic heights of feeling loved as a child of the universe. Such experiences often lead to greater self-compassion and self-acceptance. One man said, “You can hear something one thousand times and still not get it. With ayahuasca, the message [of being loved] drops down into the cellular level, and all of a sudden you know it in your bones.”

2. Improved Mood: In terms of depression and anxiety, a few lucky people had what I call a spontaneous cure — “My depression is GONE,” one man wrote after a decade of antidepressant use and five years of psychotherapy. We don’t really understand such a dramatic response to the medicine; we can’t predict who will find such relief.

For most people, there’s a more gradual healing process that continues after each ceremony. Most people noted a general improvement in mood: more feelings of love and compassion, increased optimism, greater serenity, increased confidence, and more joy. As a result of drinking ayahuasca, people said they felt more easygoing, safer, and lighter; they had more fun and felt more stable. They also reported feeling less anxious, angry, agitated, or upset. One person wrote, “Less darkness, more light.”

People seemed to develop a healthy distance between themselves and their moods that allowed them to be more objective and to consider the most constructive way to handle their emotionality. A forty-seven-year-old teacher wrote, “I’m less emotional and can better deal with my moods.” Another woman, age fifty-nine and a college professor, described a distancing from her moods: “I don’t take my moods so seriously anymore.”

3. Healing of Trauma: People often report that during ceremonies they relived a traumatic childhood event, sometimes actually being in the scene and other times watching the scene from a distance as if it were a movie. In the former, the person might be recovering a lost memory, gaining access to information that they had blocked. In this case, the person might be experiencing the trauma with full body consciousness in a way they weren’t able to do at the time. They are likely to feel that they’ve regressed to the age they were when the traumatic event happened. In the latter case, the person is able to sustain an objective distance and maintain their adult perspective. Often these people report feeling great compassion for the child they were along with the ability to be more loving toward that child within.

Whether the trauma is relived or observed during the ayahuasca ceremony, I think it can be very helpful to work with a therapist who is experienced with the medicine or altered states of consciousness. A skilled therapist would know how to approach these two ways of experiencing trauma differently. I recently heard of a woman who kept reliving the same trauma in every ayahuasca ceremony. This can actually be retraumatizing, and a therapist could help her break out of that loop and move forward.

4. Improved Relationships: As people felt better about themselves and less vulnerable to negative moods, they became more available in their significant relationships. There was a trend toward increased honest, direct, and open communication with deeper connections. One college professor succinctly described his changes: “Better marriage. Better relationships with students and colleagues.”

Many of the younger respondents said their relationships with their parents had improved, partly because they were more patient and tolerant of them. One early-twenties college student, happily in his fifth year of undergraduate study, asked his mother to answer the question, “Did anyone close to you notice any changes in you (since drinking ayahuasca)?” She responded, “Now he has control over his behavior and has become very spiritual.”

A number of people reported reconciliations in ruptured relationships. One woman wrote, “I made peace with my ex-husband, and it made a huge difference for us and our two children.” Others said they ended “unhealthy relationships” with both romantic partners and friends. This news was presented as an accomplishment, something they should’ve done long ago. It seems that many reevaluate their relationships after the ayahuasca experience. For example, one woman explained that she “was better at setting limits without guilt” in her relationships. Another said, “I’ve stopped anything that was toxic.”

5. Healthier Lifestyle: Similar to the findings on depression, a few lucky people reported a miracle cure when it came to their issues with alcohol: “After doing ayahuasca, I feel that alcohol is a poison.” “No desire for alcohol.” “I have more awareness around abuse of alcohol, so I drink less.” These people spontaneously began to view alcohol in a negative light. This effortless change in perception and behavior is the unique hallmark of ayahuasca. The changes are not a result of white-knuckle self-control but of an internal shift that seems to happen organically.

The self-reports on marijuana were more complex, with some people reducing their use while others, who viewed marijuana as a plant ally of ayahuasca, maintained their habit. A few people said they were less interested in other psychedelics since their introduction to ayahuasca, but others continued to explore.

There was a pattern of change in diet with the trend clearly in the direction of less sugar, junk food, and red meat; more vegetables and fruit; and smaller portions. One woman said, “Junk food is less appealing, even chocolate,” which I consider a major breakthrough.

People also said they felt better after the ceremonies and enjoyed an increase in vitality and energy. With an increase in their activity level, many reported a weight loss. One man said, “I feel and look younger,” and two described a weight loss of forty pounds.

These changes were not the result of willpower or discipline — nobody mentioned those stalwarts of the dieting world. Rather, the desire for a healthier diet seemed to unfold spontaneously as if based on some kind of revelation. Some people reported that they heard a voice telling them to change their eating habits. Others came out of a ceremony and changed lifelong patterns with seemingly no effort, as if they simply decided, “I now just prefer kale to chocolate.”

These are remarkable changes after ayahausca ceremonies, but we must acknowledge that these self-reports are just the beginning indicators of the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca. Far more research is needed. We still don’t know who will benefit from this medicine or in what ways. And there are risks involved whether drinking ayahuasca in South America or here in the States. But for intrepid seekers of psychospiritual healing, ayahuasca is working in mysterious ways to change their lives for the better.

# # #

Rachel Harris, PhD, is the author of Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety. She received a National Institutes of Health New Investigator’s Award, has published more than forty scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals, and has worked as a psychological consultant to Fortune 500 companies and the United Nations. She lives on an island off the coast of Maine and in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit her online at www.listeningtoayahuasca.com.

24 Mar

CARING FOR THE DYING: THE DOULA APPROACH TO A MEANINGFUL DEATH

An excerpt from:

Caring for the Dying: The Doula Approach to a Meaningful Death by Henry Fersko-Weiss

Henry Fersko-Weiss
Conari Press, March 2017
ISBN: 9781573246880
Pages 66-69, “Centering”
Centering

Good listening begins well before the first words are uttered. It starts by shifting out of the busy mind we carry around with us at all times—a mind filled with thoughts and feelings like schools of fish that change direction in an instant and swim rapidly in every direction. Imagine that you are at a lecture, trying to hear the ideas being presented, but a couple next to you doesn’t stop talking the whole time. That couple is your busy mind distracting you and interfering with your ability to hear the lecture. A name for the act of shifting out of busy mind is “centering.”

There are many different approaches to centering. As a student of Zen Buddhism, I find that meditating on breathing is an approach that works well. Perhaps ten or fifteen minutes before I visit a dying person or the family, I will meditate on my breath as I sit in my car or walk down the street to where the person lives. If I’m sitting, I will focus my mind on the physical sensations of my breath in my lower belly or at my nostrils. If I’m doing walking meditation, I coordinate each breath with the stepping motion of one foot after the other, concentrating on the sensations of raising and lowering my legs and the contact of my feet with the ground.

At times, I will add a short phrase spoken internally and softly as I breathe in and out, a practice that comes from the teaching of Thich Nhat Hanh. For example, breathing in, I might say: “This moment.” Breathing out, I would say: “Only moment.”

Another approach utilizes guided imagery, also called visualization. I will explore guided imagery more thoroughly in chapter 9. For now, I want to describe a centering visualization.

For this visualization, a person sits with their eyes closed, so they can move more easily into the imagination. They start with a minute or two of breath meditation, then call up the image of a still pool of water—perhaps in a forest. Then they visualize sitting at the edge of the water watching its surface. A frog jumps in, creating ripples that move outward in all directions from the plop of where it entered the water.

As the person continues to watch the surface of the water, the ripples slowly dissipate until the pool is completely still again. The person feels themselves become that stillness. When they feel ready, they open their eyes and carry that stillness and the receptivity of the pool in their mind as they enter the person’s home or room.

The busy mind can be very insistent. Thoughts, memories, sounds, or bodily sensations will drag a person away from their focus. Each time that happens, just return to the centering practice. The activity of returning over and over again to the breath, or to a mental snapshot of the still pool, will keep them centered as they prepare to listen to a dying person or family member.

Centering stills the mind and accesses intuition that may help a person see things not obvious to the upper layers of consciousness. But they also need to open outward to listen deeply. So once a person is centered, they turn their focus to every sound they can hear in the space around them. In this part of the preparation, it’s essential for a person to maintain some portion of their focus on the breath at the same time that they listen intently to every sound. It is this dual focus, awareness of what is happening inside as well as outside, that is most effective for listening deeply.

The last part of centering is to set an intention to let go of all expectations and goals. If a person is caught up in wanting to make something wonderful happen, is anxious about saying the wrong thing, or has an agenda related to a particular issue, then they are too caught up in concerns about themselves or their ideas about what is needed to truly listen.

Family members will have to distinguish between times they intend to listen to their dying loved one and times when they may need to bring up an issue or raise a concern. It is often hard for family to separate these two activities. A doula can help with this. For a dying person to speak openly and freely—particularly about deeply meaningful or emotional subjects—they must know that their family member is there at this time to just listen. This can be so critical as the dying person faces their final days.

After setting an intention internally, I find it helps to verbalize that intention out loud. There is something about speaking it, even though I’m alone in my preparation, that seems to give it weight and power; that makes it feel like a commitment I intend to strive toward.

As I do this part of my preparation, I will hold my hands with palms together in front of my face or heart, which comes out of my Zen practice and symbolizes for me that the giver and receiver, or the listener and speaker, are not two and not one at the same time. This gesture with the hands is also a sign of gratitude for whatever will be offered.

21 Mar

How to Stop Constipation with a Few Simple Tests and Adjustments to Your Diet

Guest post by Joy Stephenson-Laws, Founder of Proactive Health Labs (pH) and her team

Constipation is one of the most common digestive complaints, affecting around 42 million people in the U.S, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Unsurprisingly, a study in an article published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology found an increased number of emergency room visits for constipation between the years 2006-2011. To understand why this problem seems to be on the rise, let’s take a look at what constipation is and what you can do.

What is constipation?

Constipation generally refers to bowel movements that are infrequent and hard to pass. Many times, people compare stool to their own standard. But this may not be enough to find out the optimal number and type of bowel movements. BMs affect quality of life especially when waste accumulates, leading to sensations of fullness, sluggishness, headaches, mood issues, abdominal discomfort and/or even pain. The Bristol stool chart is a useful tool to assess formation of your stools.

Generally, one to two soft BMs per day are ideal. Although doctors may accept two to three days of no BMs as a natural variation, it may be an indicator that something is backing up. The amount of BMs may be related to volume and type of food and water intake. The goal is to have adequate absorption of essential nutrients, and get rid of waste in a timely manner

Causes of constipation vary and may be due to a number of factors, such as the medications you take (opioids, calcium channel blockers, iron supplements and others), being inactive, pregnancy, travel, diet and health conditions that slow digestion (such as disorders and injuries that affect the brain and spinal cord, hypothyroidism and diabetes).

People who are constipated for long periods of time may also experience additional complications like hemorrhoids, anal fissures, rectal prolapse (rectum protrudes out of the anus) or fecal impaction (hardened stool stuck in the rectum).

Luckily, what may help constipation is as simple as paying closer attention to your nutrition intake. And remember, you should always talk to your doctor about any medical issues or concerns you have!

So what are some remedies for constipation?

You may need more fiber! Most Americans don’t get enough dietary fiber.

But what exactly is fiber? Fiber refers to the undigested parts of food. According to the NIDDK, fiber helps make stool soft so it can move smoothly through your intestines.

There are two types of fiber — soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and is found in beans, fruit and oats. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water and may be found in whole grains and veggies. Both kinds help prevent constipation, the NIDDK says. (Find more examples of fiber-rich foods here and here).

Most Americans eat 16 grams of fiber a day but should be getting 22-34 grams a day. But it’s not only the amount of fiber that matters, but also the rate at which you increase your fiber. Ramping it up full tilt can cause gas, bloating and cramps. Be sure to add fiber to your diet slowly so your body can adjust.

Also, make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids (water, fruit and veggie juices and clear soups) to help the fiber work better. And make sure you’re not eating foods that are making constipation worse.

What foods should you avoid if you’re constipated?

If you are constipated, foods with little to no fiber may be working against you, the NIDDK says. You may want to try avoiding cheese, chips, fast food, ice cream, meat, prepared frozen meals/snack foods and processed foods like “TV dinners” or hot dogs, and see if your constipation improves.

Still facing digestive issues and feel like nothing works?

Exercise may help stimulate circulation and intestinal function. And you should also factor in your bacterial balance in your gut. Here’s what you should know:
- Probiotics may help. In a studypublished in The Netherlands Journal of Medicine, certain bacteria patterns were shown not only to be associated with increased health risks and higher weight, but were also associated with higher rates of constipation. Addition of healthy gut bacteria caused improvement in BMs. You can get probiotics in supplement form or in food products such as kefir and kombucha.

Human microbiome transplantshows promise. Microbiome is a term that refers to the diversity of gut bacteria. Although it sounds very unappealing to transfer bacterial colonies from a healthy person into the colon of an unhealthy person, it has been successfully done and has also improved several gut diseases, including clostridium difficile infections and chronic conditions such as colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Testing that could benefit everyone

GI effectspanel: This new stool test detects unhealthy bacteria, overall bacterial balance, the degree of inflammation and problems with food absorption.

Intracellular magnesium:The American diet is frequently associated with certain mineral deficiencies such as magnesium or potassium. Low magnesium intake has been associated with an increase in constipation. Supplementing with magnesium may help with chronic constipation. Note that it’s known to be a laxative, so don’t take more than is recommended. You can test to determine how much you have and how much you need.

Preventive colonoscopy:Although it is not the most appealing medical exam, it makes total sense to have yourself checked out, especially over the age of 50. This can detect polyps or tumors in the early stages. Severe constipation or alterations of BMs can be an early warning sign for various diseases.

Thyroid testing:Impaired thyroid function is not only related to weight gain, general sluggishness, leg swelling and low energy but is also related to constipation. Test your thyroid every two to five years, depending on your doctor’s recommendation.

You also may want to consider a nutrition test to see if your body is getting and absorbing the nutrients it needs.

Enjoy Your Healthy Life!

The pH professional health care team includes recognized experts from a variety of health care and related disciplines, including physicians, health care attorneys, nutritionists, nurses and certified fitness instructors. To learn more about the pH Health Care Team, click here.

Joy Stephenson-Laws is the founder of Proactive Health Labs (pH), a revolutionary health care company that provides tools needed to achieve optimal health. Her new book, Minerals – The Forgotten Nutrient: Your Secret Weapon for Getting and Staying Healthy [Proactive Health Labs, Inc., 2016] is available through Amazon or wherever books are sold. All proceeds from the book will be donated to The Bili Project Foundation; an organization devoted to reducing the incidents and improving the outcome of Hepatobiliary cancers, which are cancers of the liver, gallbladder or bile ducts. Connect with Proactive Health Labs on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads, and at www.phlabs.org.

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21 Mar

Four Signs that the Human Race is Undergoing a Collective Awakening By Steve Taylor

Guest post by Steve Taylor

In spiritual circles, it’s often suggested that the human race is in the process of a collective spiritual awakening. One of my aims in writing my new book The Leap was to investigate the evidence for this. Is it really true that we’re in the process of ‘waking up’ as a species?

Let me first of all explain what I mean by ‘enlightenment’ or (as I prefer to call it) ‘wakefulness.’ I think of it as a shift into a more expansive, higher-functioning state in which we experience a strong sense of connection with the world around us and other beings, a sense of inner quietness and spaciousness, and a heightened awareness of our surroundings. It’s a state in which we transcend identification with the ego-mind, and let go of much of the anxiety and restless which afflicts us in our normal state.

There are a number of signs that this state is becoming more accessible and normal to human beings, and that a collective ‘leap’ is occurring.

Sign number 1: Individual Wakefulness

First of all, wakefulness seems to be natural for a small minority of people. These people aren’t awake due to a sudden transformation, or as a result of decades of regular spiritual practice – wakefulness is simply their normal, natural state. Such people don’t usually become known in a spiritual context. Instead they often become creative artists, poets or painters, like Walt Whitman or William Wordsworth. Or perhaps they become idealists or social reformers, motivated by compassion or a desire to alleviate suffering, like Florence Nightingale, or Peace Pilgrim.

Sign number 2: Temporary Awakening Experiences

As I showed in my earlier book, Waking from Sleep, it’s very common for people to have temporary glimpses of the wakeful state, when they’re inactive and relaxed, and their minds become quiet and calm. For a few moments, the wakeful state emerges, like the sun from behind a wall of clouds. This suggests that our normal sleep state has only a loose hold over us and can easily dissolve away, even if it usually manages to reestablish itself.

Sign Number 3: The Impulse to Awaken

More and more people seem to sense instinctively that something is amiss with their normal state of being, that it is limited and delusory. They’re aware that they’re asleep, and they want to wake up. As a result, they feel impelled to investigate methods of transcending their normal state such as following spiritual practices and traditions. Again, this suggests that our sleep state is losing its hold over us. It suggests that an evolutionary change is building momentum within our collective psyche. (continued)

Sign Number 4: Sudden Awakening from Psychological Turmoil

As I showed in my book Out of the Darkness, it’s not uncommon for people who go through intense stress and turmoil – perhaps linked to bereavement, a diagnosis or cancer, alcoholism or depression – to undergo a sudden shift into wakefulness. This often occurs when they have reached ‘rock bottom’, at the point when they think they have lost everything. Their previous identity seems to dissolve away, and a new ‘wakeful’ identity suddenly emerges to replace it, like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis.

For the ‘shifters’ — as I called them in Out of the Darkness — who undergo awakening in this way, the wakeful state seems to emerge fully formed, as if it had been latent inside them, waiting for the possibility to unfold. Although there are sometimes periods of confusion and disturbance as the old ‘sleep’ state fades away and the new one establishes itself, the process seems natural and inevitable. And again, this suggests that the wakeful state is ready to emerge within our collective psyche. It is already there, fully formed and integrated, but only able to emerge (at least for some people) when the old sleep state dissolves away.

All of these are signs that the momentum of wakefulness is increasing, that it’s beginning to unfold as the next stage in the evolution of life. As a result, it’s manifesting itself in a variety of ways, in the same way that a rising water level manifests itself as overflowing rivers and lakes, and new streams, ponds, and tributaries. Wakefulness is also rising, and showing signs of its emergence everywhere.

But hold on, you might ask, what about all the negativity in the world right now, the terrorism, consumerism and nationalism? Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised at this. When a new phase begins, the characteristics of the previous one often become stronger and more entrenched, in response to the threat of their demise. The old traits are threatened and so seem to be asserting themselves more strongly. It’s almost as if, within our collective psyche, the self-system of sleep senses that it’s being superseded and is trying to tighten its grip.

It’s important to remember that our own individual psyche is connected to — and influences — our species as a whole. When we undergo awakening as individuals, we contribute to the awakening of our whole species. Our own leap is part of the leap of our whole species. As more and more of us move toward wakefulness, the easier it becomes for others to do the same. The blueprint of the wakeful state builds up within our collective psyche until eventually it may replace sleep as the normal state that all human beings naturally develop in adulthood.

The universe wants us to wake up and will guide us toward wakefulness, if we create the right conditions – until eventually wakefulness becomes normal for the whole of the human race.

Steve Taylor’s previous books include The Calm Center, Out of the Darkness, and Waking from Sleep. A senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University and one of Mind, Body, Spirit magazine’s “100 Most Spiritually Influential People,” he lives in Manchester, England. His website is www.StevenMTaylor.com.

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When Someone You Love is Dying

FIVE WAYS AYAHUASCA IS CHANGING LIVES FOR THE BETTER

CARING FOR THE DYING: THE DOULA APPROACH TO A MEANINGFUL DEATH

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Four Signs that the Human Race is Undergoing a Collective Awakening By Steve Taylor

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