I was in peace with gentle knowing of a lovely vision this morning. I did watch this sky. In it a man about my age met me and we took a stairway. He told me of a dimensional mirror. He showed this to me. I saw the stillness of light and the universe in a single point. I saw this all reflect into the now. This was so lovely that all fear subsided. I was for that moment now-ness.
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Are mirrors portals to other dimensions?
When mirrors face each other, there is a tunnel of light. Nothing moves. Its just so easy. Being there was everywhere. There is no movement in the stillness and yet all potentiality may emerge here from unconditional love into perfection of a point. This repeats in light; waves of light reflect electromagnetically each choice form.
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Light does not travel. Within the cubes shown in this video, there appears an endless radial universe that doesn’t exist. In reality, there are only 6 mirrors and an empty cube. This is how our universe works. The omnipresent light is repeated wave field to wave field. All lights give to all other lights. All is truly one expressing itself in infinite diversity.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR)
The Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense issued clinical practice guidelines that recommend EDMR for the treatment of PTSD. Perhaps, the rapid eye movement allows the patient less opportunity to consciously react to the distress that they are reviewing. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. Positive controlled outcome studies demonstrate that >80% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress after only three 90-minute sessions. Reportedly, Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims no longer suffer with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions. EMDR Institute, Inc. reported that 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions.
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR) 20/20 Report
. Francine Shapiro is the originator and developer of EMDR.
In 1987, she made the chance observation that moving her eyes from side to side appeared to reduce the disturbance of negative thoughts and memories. This experience led her to examine this phenomenon more systematically. Working with approximately 70 volunteers, she developed standardized procedures to maximize therapeutic outcomes, conducted additional research and a published randomized controlled study with trauma victims. After further research and elaboration of the methodology, she published a textbook in 1995 detailing the eight phases of this form of psychotherapy. EMDR is now recommended as an effective treatment for trauma in numerous international practice guidelines, including those of the American Psychiatric Association and the Department of Defense.
Dr. Shapiro is a Senior Research Fellow Emeritus at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California, Executive Director of the EMDR Institute in Watsonville, CA, and founder and President Emeritus of the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs, a non-profit organization that coordinates disaster response and low fee training worldwide. see also: https://www.emdr.com/
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world’s leading spiritual teachers, is a man at great peace even as he predicts the possible collapse of civilisation within 100 years as a result of runaway climate change.
The 86-year-old Vietnamese monk, who has hundreds of thousands of followers around the world, believes the reason most people are not responding to the threat of global warming, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, is that they are unable to save themselves from their own personal suffering, never mind worry about the plight of Mother Earth.
Thay, as he is known, says it is possible to be at peace if you pierce through our false reality, which is based on the idea of life and death, to touch the ultimate dimension in Buddhist thinking, in which energy cannot be created or destroyed.
By recognising the inter-connectedness of all life, we can move beyond the…
“Emotions are related to activity in brain areas that direct our attention, motivate our behaviour, and determine the significance of what is going on around us.”
It is so important to keep this in mind because heightened emotions have such a powerful and far-reaching impact on our lives, and the lives of those around us. Our emotions determine what we notice, how we react, and how we perceive and evaluate our environment. It’s no wonder that things look better in the morning when you’re feeling more composed. At that point your emotions are more under control, more bearable, because the immediate intensity of your emotional reaction has dissipated. This then has a calming effect on your perception of your circumstances; you tend see things in a calmer light, which then results in more mediated behaviour.
It’s just another reason why mindfulness it so important. And now neuroscience provides the…
This time, I want to share a video that delves into what people are saying about their progress of evolving by meditations – it ought probably give us a sense that meditation is a system, sure; beneficial too, yes; but also that meditating is very personally experienced.
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Meditation and the Power of the Mind – YouTube Published on May 2, 2012 A documentary that explores the practice of meditation and it’s effect on the mind and body.
Silence, the precious in-between. In life we have bouts of action, but it is the silence that can ultimately define what we do in those periods of action. The silence is where we decide what we are going to do next. It is that safe place where we can plant our dreams, analyze our feelings, meditate. It should be sacred, untouched territory, but sometimes it becomes colored with the expectations of the rest of the world.
The rest of the world has norms, expectations, opinions, and fears. All of those expectations, and fear-based opinions carry a distinctive energy that can hinder our dreams and damper our passions. So how can a person reclaim their silence?
As a child, you probably had a secret hiding place or a place that made you feel safe. As an adult, our silence is our secret hiding place.
Visit http://globalmeditation.chopra.com/ and sign up to be part of the global meditation event of the year, and help set the Guinness World Record for the largest meditation gathering in history. Join Deepak Chopra, Gabrielle Bernstein, India Arie, and Maya Tiwari.
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There are two types of people who will tell you that you cannot make a difference in this world: Those who are afraid to try themselves, and those who are afraid that you will succeed.
This an AWESOME exercise in mindfulness for kids – or anyone!
Invite your child to write down her biggest worry. Teach her that worry is not real, it’s just a habit, and it can be broken. Give your child a special bracelet and instruct her to wear it daily (a rubber bracelet or bright hair elastic will do). Each time she notices herself worrying, she should switch the bracelet to the other wrist. Tell her not to condemn herself when she switches. There’s no need to tally the worries. Just notice they’re happening.
Once she gets the hang of it, help her come up with an easy affirmation that can neutralize the worry. Each time she switches the bracelet, she can say the affirmation in her head.
So let’s say your child worries she’s going to fail math. Every time she stresses, she should switch the bracelet and think…
So, I want to recall the most important contribution that I think I found about the truth. Meditation promotes well-being by reducing stress, depression, anxiety, blood pressure, addiction, by boosting immune systems and by improving our memory.
Forty years ago,Matthieu Ricard, a French genetic scientist left an intellectual life, moved to India and took up a study of Buddhism. He is now a western scholar of religion and he was recently claimed by brain research scientists to be the happiest man on the planet.
His daily routine of meditation made possible amazing brain scans demonstrate that if he is meditating on compassion, Ricard’s brain produces a level of gamma waves never before reported within neuroscience literature.
While his is the pinnacle of measures, you to may change your brain. You have the capacity to heal including all of your emotional confusions. If you set out to accomplish this, you can gradually increase your awareness and your inner peace by mindfulness. You can transform your brain, create new neural circuits and change the way your brain neurons more efficiently will communicate with each other.
Is it possible for meditation to be utterly effortless? To experience the depths of being in any given moment of our lives-not just while we practice? Not only is it possible, explains Eckhart Tolle, but it is the very way we come to touch the essence of meditation. Tolle discusses the methods of meditation and their purpose: accessing the richness and power of pure presence.
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Who is Eckhart Tolle (Amazon)?
Spiritual teacher and author Eckhart Tolle was born in Germany and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge. At the age of twenty-nine a profound inner transformation radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating, and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Later, he began to work in London with individuals and small groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher. Since 1995 he has lived in Vancouver, Canada.
Eckhart Tolle is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Power of Now (translated into 33 languages) and A New Earth, which are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time. In 2008, A New Earth became the first spiritual book to be selected for Oprah’s Book Club as well as the subject of a ten-week online workshop co-taught by Eckhart and Oprah.
Eckhart’s profound yet simple teachings have helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet.
Program Description
If happiness is an inner state, influenced by external conditions but not dependent on them, how can we achieve it? Matthieu Ricard presents factors that generally may increase or decrease well-being, happiness, authenticity, compassion, peace, and joy.
Happiness and joy may stimulate compassion and compassion may stimulate happiness and joy. This is ideal. This may then be noticed to be increasing positive energy, empathy, pro-social behavior, and the change within may serve as the kernel of an evolving moral-ethical framework.
Matthieu Ricard is a scientist turned Buddhist monk and a best selling author, translator, and photographer. He has lived and studied in the Himalayas for more than 35 years.
This recording is from Google Tech Talks in March of 2007
60 minutes Youtube watch?v=L_30JzRGDHI
A wellness approach in learning: act as though we don’t yet know anything more important — eliminate the inner ego voice from learning.
I pray to be released from any responsibility for making judgments and to learn as though this is all new to me. Later, I’ll review the important lesson again. Always when material is important in my life, I review the material many times.
Starting off into a new day, there is something to learn and something to share — what that is comes to me with my morning meditation — I don’t really even think about it until it comes — I remind myself, “This is my wonderful journey of self discovery. Love envelopes me and the gentle waves of peaceful waters and the light shine from my mind into the world around me.” As I face myself in honesty, open to guiding spirit, I turn my life over to God and I ask Him to allow me to do whatever I may to do His will — Thy Will, not mine be done.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama says “in today’s secular world, religion alone is no longer adequate as a basis for ethics… any religion-based answer to the problem of our neglect of inner values can never be universal, and so will be inadequate.” My religion practice is rooted in utmost fondness and enthusiasm in me. I love Jesus and being Christian. I also love all others as best I am able and this is certainly a growing condition in me, prompted by my love of Jesus’s words that make clear that we are to love God with all of our being and also love others as we would be loved. I realize that my world around me is a secular world where my religion is separate from societal norms and therefore that I must involve myself with others in ways that make me attractive; not by promoting my religion. I am to be a channel for love.
I hope that this lesson is helpful for you in your life of spiritual enlightenment — awakening the skill to foster well-being and for freedom, mastery of living in moments of serenity, inner peacefulness, joyfulness, and of course for sharing happiness.
“The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind.” ~ Rumi
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Deepak Chopra is the source for this post – from his book – included with links and excerpts… I did not much more than organize this – my text is this lighter color. If you have some time, try the exercise and view both videos… there is really some terrific wisdom here from Dr. Chopra.
EXERCISE
Look at the palm of your hand. Feel it as you look. Now imagine that it is getting warmer. Keep looking and focus on it getting warmer; see the color becoming redder. If you maintain focus on this intention, your palm will in fact grow warm and red.
Tibetan Buddhist monks use this simple biofeedback loop (an advanced meditation technique known as tumo) to warm their entire bodies.
This technique is so effective that monks who use it can sit in freezing ice caves meditating overnight while wearing nothing more than their thin silk saffron robes. Now the simple feedback loop has become totally engrossing, because what we can induce merely by intending it may have no limit.
The same Buddhist monks reach states of compassion, for example, that depend on physical changes in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Their brains didn’t do this on their own; they were following orders from the mind. Thus we cross a frontier. When a feedback loop is maintaining normal heart rhythm, the mechanism is involuntary— it is using you. But if you change your heart rate intentionally (for example, by imagining a certain someone who excites you romantically), you are using it instead.
Let’s take this concept to the place where life can be miserable or happy. Consider stroke victims. Medical science has made huge advances in patient survival after even massive strokes, some of which can be attributed to better medications and to the upsurge of trauma units, since strokes are ideally dealt with as soon as possible. Quick treatment is saving countless lives, compared to the past. But survival isn’t the same as recovery.
No drugs show comparable success in allowing victims to recover from paralysis, the most common effect of a stroke. As with the discouraged children, with stroke patients everything seems to depend on feedback. In the past they mostly sat in a chair with medical attention, and their course of least resistance was to use the side of the body that was unaffected by their stroke. Now rehabilitation actively takes the course of most resistance. If a patient’s left hand is paralyzed, for example, the therapist will have her use only that hand to pick up a coffee cup or comb her hair. At first these tasks are physically impossible. Even barely raising a paralyzed hand causes pain and frustration. But if the patient repeats the intention to use the bad hand, over and over, new feedback loops develop. The brain adapts, and slowly there is new function.
We now see remarkable recoveries in patients who walk, talk, and use their limbs normally with intensive rehab. Even twenty years ago these functions would have languished or shown only minor improvements. And all we have done so far is to explore the implications of two words.
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Program Description “You don’t know what your brain can do until you test its limits…” The Super Brain Credo bridges two worlds, biology and experience. Biology is great at explaining physical processes, but it is totally inadequate at telling us about the meaning and purpose of our subjective experience. What does it feel like to be a discouraged child or a paralyzed stroke victim? The story begins with that question, and biology follows second. We need both worlds to understand ourselves. Otherwise, we fall into the biological fallacy, which holds that humans are controlled by their brains. Leaving aside countless arguments between various theories of mind and brain, the goal is clear: We want to use our brains, not have them use us. We’ll expand on these ten principles as the book unfolds. Major breakthroughs in neuroscience are all pointing in the same direction. The human brain can do far more than anyone ever thought. Contrary to outworn beliefs, its limitations are imposed by us, not by its physical shortcomings.
Special thanks toKim Saeed for a link to this superb video.
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Book Excerpt: Super Brain
by Deepak Chopra, MD and Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD
A Golden Age for the Brain What do we really know about the human brain? In the 1970s and 1980s, when the authors gained their training, the honest answer was “very little.” There was a saying circulating back then: Studying the brain was like putting a stethoscope on the outside of the Astrodome to learn the rules of football.
Your brain contains roughly 100 billion nerve cells forming anywhere from a trillion to perhaps even a quadrillion connections called synapses. These connections are in constant, dynamic state of remodeling in response to the world around you. As a marvel of nature, this one is minuscule and yet stupendous.
Everyone stood in awe of the brain, which was once dubbed “the three-pound universe.” And rightly so. Your brain not only interprets the world, it creates it. Everything you see, hear, touch, taste, and smell would have none of these qualities without the brain. Whatever you experience today—your morning coffee, the love you fee for your family, a brilliant idea at work—has been specifically customized solely for you.
Immediately we confront a crucial issue. If your world is unique and customized for you and you alone, who is behind such remarkable creativity, you or the brain itself? If the answer is you, then the door to greater creativity is flung open. If the answer is your brain, then there may be drastic physical limitations on what you are able to achieve. Maybe your genes are holding you back, or toxic memories, or low self esteem. Maybe you fall short because of limited expectations that have contracted your awareness, even though you don’t see it happening.
The facts of the case could easily tell both stories, of unlimited potential or physical limitation. Compared with the past, today science is amassing new facts with astonishing speed. We have entered a golden age of brain research. New breakthroughs emerge every month, but in the midst of such exciting advances, what about the individual, the person who depends upon the brain for everything?
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Take a moment and watch what is going on in a meditating brain:
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Is this a golden age for your brain?
We detect an enormous gap between brilliant research and everyday reality. Another medical school saying from the past comes to mind: Each person typically uses only 10 percent of their brain. Speaking literally, that’s not true. In a healthy adult, the brain’s neural networks operate at full capacity all the time. Even the most sophisticated brain scans available would show no detectable difference between Shakespeare writing a soliloquy from Hamlet and an aspiring poet writing his first sonnet. But the physical brain is not nearly the whole story.
To create a golden age for your brain, you need to use the gift nature has given you in a new way. It’s not the number of neurons or some magic inside your gray matter that makes life more vital, inspiring, and successful. Genes play their part, but your genes, like the rest of the brain, are also dynamic. Every day you step into the invisible firestorm of electrical and chemical activity that is the brain’s environment. You act as leader, inventor, teacher, and user of your brain, all at once.
As leader, you hand out the day’s orders to your brain.
As inventor, you create new pathways and connections inside your brain that didn’t exist yesterday.
As teacher, you train your brain to learn new skills.
As user, you are responsible for keeping your brain in good working order.
In these four roles lies the whole difference between the everyday brain—let’s dub it the baseline brain—and what we are calling super brain. The difference is immense. Even though you have not related to the brain by thinking What orders should I give today? or What new pathways do I want to create? that’s precisely what you are doing. The customized world that you live in needs a creator. The creator isn’t your brain; it’s you.
Super brain stands for a fully aware creator using the brain to maximum advantage. Your brain is endlessly adaptable, and you could be performing your fourfold role—leader, inventor, teacher, and user—with far more fulfilling results than you now achieve. ...more
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Thanks for visiting.
Eric
I assist spiritual authors, artists, and bloggers… free… just e-mail me: thehunt4truth@yahoo.com
Feeling love is the sure sign that life is going well and is not being directed by the rouge ego… Here is another great routine that is simple and gets us out of our dangerous and useless ego-directed thinking.
1. Increases immune function 2. Decreases Pain 3. Decreases Inflammation at the Cellular Level 4. Increases Positive Emotion 5. Decreases Depression 6. Decreases Anxiety 7. Decreases Stress 8. Increases social connection & emotional intelligence 9. Makes you more compassionate 10. Makes you feel less lonely 11. Improves your ability to regulate your emotions 12. Improves your ability to introspect 13. Increases grey matter 14. Increases emotion regulation, positive emotions & self-control 15. Increases cortical thickness in areas related to paying attention 16. Increases your focus & attention 17. Improves your ability to multitask 18. Improves your memory 19. Improves your ability to be creative 20. It makes you wise(r)
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Program Description Meditation. If you believe leading research scientists, it’s as close to a magic pill as we can get! Let’s take a quick look at 5 reasons why meditation is awesome along with 10 tips on how to rock it! This is a Big Idea fromOptimal Living 101.
Utilize breathing to reduce stress and anxiety, to increase your vitality, and to feel living in the moment more fully. Let go of self-image. Breath in comfortably and then fully exhale, breathing out all of the tension and thoughts. I like to visualize all of my thoughts being collected up into my breath as I inhale and then leaving from me as I exhale. This frees up inner space for serenity and peacefulness. I like to begin the day with personal freedom and without any task oriented agendas. Check my tips for a Morning Meditation. Tasks can be thought about soon enough. Its easier when my mind is cleared and peaceful.
Its important to free myself from any stress and pressures during the day too. So, I can do this any time during my day. I use a simple routine of Five Steps to Mindfulness.
Regular mindfulness meditation is a healthy routine — the benefits are so many — see: Meditation Changes Brains!
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Thanks for reading (spiritual topics in a secular world),
I [Kathy Freston] recently published my third book, Quantum Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness. That book details how small, incremental changes – to what we eat, how we think, how we move our bodies, how we relate to others, etc. – can reap huge rewards.
One of the practices I recommend for “jump-starting” a quantum shift to a higher state of wellness is a 21-day cleanse – a period of three weeks in which you abstain from sugar, caffeine, gluten, alcohol, and animal products and load yourself full of a wholesome, plant-based diet.
Of all the things I wrote about in that book, it was the cleanse that elicited the most overwhelming response. Easily 90% of the questions and letters I receive from readers have to do with navigating those 21 days. Clearly, a nerve has been struck. I don’t think it’s just that people want to detox and lose weight, although that is surely part of it. I think that the promise of experiencing real, discernible breakthroughs in each of the areas of body, mind, and spirit in a relatively short period of time appeals to the great many of us who have a serious desire for personal development and change.
And so I decided to devote a whole book to the cleanse – to answering your questions and going into greater depth about the process and offering you a hand as you try to go three weeks without some of the substances you reach for when you need comfort.
Get ready for a miracle, because that’s what happens when you first make the decision to give yourself a big boost in the direction of quantum wellness, when you decide to take supremely good care of your body and confront the emotions that come up when you do. When you make your move – even if it’s a just a single step – toward the shift you’d like to experience, your body, mind, and spirit are brought to a whole new and altogether higher level.
Click the image to check out the books and CDs that Kathy has available from her Web/blog site.
My suggestion is that you read the book once through before you begin the cleanse, and then read it again as you’re conducting the cleanse—reading the chapters that are suggested for the respective days. There is information that comes later in the chapters that you may find useful to you from the outset of the cleanse, and my hope is that you will find value in reading it again for inspiration as you’re experiencing the cleanse, also.
I think you’ll find value, for example, in working on visualization, taking time for fun, and exercise from day 1 of the cleanse, but if that seems like too much for you (I know this is a lot to throw at a person; there’s no right or wrong way to proceed), please feel free to begin incorporating those elements on the days to which they’re assigned, after you’re getting into the flow of dietary and other elements of the cleanse.
I started doing cleanses over twenty-five years ago because I wanted to lose weight, plain and simple.
I hoped that taking a little break from my (over)eating routines might snap me out of unhealthy patterns.
I started off by fasting every Monday, forgoing all food except a recommended mixture of apple cider vinegar, honey, and water. After a while, I moved on to juice fasts, where for a few days or even a week at a time I would consume only juices made from fruits, carrots, spinach, celery, ginger, and other vegetables. At other times over the years, I tried the various programs that were in vogue and that promised some sort of miracle.
What I found out after all was that fasting didn’t work for me. I never experienced the promised weight loss or, if I did, it didn’t last. In fact whenever I would fast my metabolism would slow way down and put my body on starvation alert mode. In other words, whatever calories I did ingest, my body hung onto tightly because it wasn’t so sure that more would be coming in.
For many people, these practices have their merits, and many of them are quite detoxifying and healing, but they didn’t work for me. Plus, not eating made me anxious and I couldn’t concentrate; all I could think about was what I would eat for that first “break fast” meal.
The Quantum Wellness 21-Day Cleanse is nothing like those punishing fasts I tried for all those years. It is extremely simple and nutritionally sound. In fact, it is more a healthy way of living than it is a harsh or difficult discipline. It’s about choosing foods that don’t tax the body and make it work so hard; it’s about taking a break but not about starving.
The more I studied and looked into the ancient practice of giving up certain foods for a designated period of time, the more I realized that fasting and cleansing are not only good for making physical improvements, but they can also be a pathway to great clarity and even enlightenment.
Many masters throughout the ages have forgone food for periods of time so that they might feel closer to Spirit and less attached to the pedestrian rites of this world. They would give up a number of things – perhaps just taking in the bare essentials – and go into a deep meditation or discourse with a Teacher. Or, like Gandhi, they would give up eating as a way of making a strong and committed statement that would bring about changes in social conditions and a shift toward higher societal consciousness.
The more I learned about fasting and cleansing traditions, the more I saw the wisdom in giving my body an occasional retreat so that I could break free from some of my lesser habits and cravings and the impulse for immediate gratification. From the early founders of Western medicine – Hippocrates, Galen, and Paracelsus – I learned that occasionally refraining from food was also a proven way to prevent and even cure disease. Even the great philosophers Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras regularly gave up food (or certain foods) so that they could enhance and enliven their sense of physical well being.
This cleanse is so simple and so powerful. For three weeks, you will refrain from eating what I call “The Big Five”:
caffeine
alcohol
gluten
animal products
and refined sugar
On first glance, it may seem like there will be nothing left to eat or drink! In fact, you will discover that there is a whole world of delicious and nutritious food to enjoy and that will help you feel more energetic, healthy, and clean. And I guarantee you will not be hungry (unless you forget to eat!). In fact this is a “diet” you could stay on indefinitely, because it doesn’t deny your body any of its needs and is actually rich in nutritious vegetables, whole grains, fruits, and nuts, and chock full of everything you need to fuel your body for a lifetime.
Over the course of the three weeks I’ll be talking in some depth about why you’re avoiding these Big Five categories, but for now just trust me when I say that these substances are difficult for our bodies and can even be toxic, and a break from them will do you a world of good. We won’t be doing any calorie counting or maniacally restricting carbs; I’ll just be here to remind you to eat lots of grains, beans, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables, which are loaded with naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, and give you plenty of suggestions for how to make them a part of your diet. Simple, no?
I want to prepare you for the physiological downside that some people experience for a few days. Many people experience no physical problems or actual signs of withdrawal, but some people do—if you are in the latter category, please remind yourself that this is a signal of addiction, and you don’t want to be addicted. Please also keep reminding yourself that these bad physical feelings pass within a few days for almost everyone.
I know when I give up caffeine I get cranky and lethargic for the first few days. But that’s part of the point. I become aware just how dependent my body has become on an artificial boost and how it’s forgotten how to feel good on its own. Some people get headaches when they kick caffeine, but these pass within a few days at the most.
Sugar can be another hard one for some people, especially people who are used to multiple sugary sodas or snacks every single day. But, as you probably know all too well, the sugar high is short lived and often bears a heavy price. We need more and more to feel the boost, and no matter how much we ingest, we never feel great (and all the while we’re gaining weight from the calories and unused glycogen). In fact, we often feel downright spun out and desperate for the next fix – almost like a drug addict. In a few pages, we’ll look at why it’s so important to purge processed sugars from your diet, at least for a short time. I’ll also give you suggestions for alternative sweets.
If you are a steady drinker and you give up alcohol, you will likely experience some stress and anxiety that you were trying to blot out with the wine or vodka or what have you. My advice is to take this opportunity to gently and with great compassion for yourself face the very things that you’ve been running from and maybe think about dealing with them in a whole new way.
If an old trauma is weighing on you, you might want to check out a support or fellowship group; learn to meditate and exercise to renew the feel-good chemicals – dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins – that your brain naturally produces. As you learn to face your demons, whatever they may be, you will see that they are not as omnipotent as you thought they were. (However, if your relationship with alcohol is at all problematic for you I urge you to get support.) You will tap into an inner reserve of serenity (I will help you along the way) while finding that you are part of something larger that wants your healing to occur. This “flow” of healing energy will make itself known if you want it to.
Even if you are only a social drinker (like me), not having a drink with friends at a festive dinner can be challenging. You want to fit in and enjoy just like everyone else; but this discomfort will be short-lived as you realize you don’t need alcohol to relax and feel at ease. The more present you are to the conversation, the less you will crave the comfort of a drink.
Changing our habits is shaky business at first, as habits come about because they provide some sense of security and regularity in the face of anxiety. But the more you lean into the discomfort, instead of running from it or grabbing another drink, as long as you have a willingness to breathe through the difficult feelings, you will become more and more free to live at the highest levels of wellness.
As you read on about how alcohol is metabolized, you will see that it acts a lot like sugar in the body, and so you might get intense cravings and feel agitated if you don’t “get your fix”; but of course, this is all the more reason to break the physical habituation, at least for the length of the cleanse.
Giving up gluten will not cause a physical sense of withdrawal, because you are likely to experience an almost instant relief from digestive problems (if you have them). The difficulty you may have, though, is in finding things that don’t contain gluten. While you won’t suffer a bodily pang without it, you might have to spend a little extra time finding gluten-free products. Breads and other products made with rice, corn, quinoa, potatoes, oats, and buckwheat are good bets. Honestly, just getting out of the bread habit alone will have you feeling leaner and cleaner in no time.
Many people don’t have an issue with gluten (I don’t). But one of the more immediate benefits of giving it up for this short time is that you force yourself to shake loose of over- indulging in processed flours that tend to cause weight gain (processed flours react in the body much like straight sugar does) and fatigue.
Despite what you may have heard, withdrawing from animal products will not deprive your body of any essential nutrients, and you won’t feel tired or weak. There is plenty of protein and amino acids in plant-based food, without all the unhealthy fat and additives. However, if meat was the mainstay of your diet before, you might feel a little lost and left out. This is good. It shakes things up. In fact giving up animal products is one of the most important gifts you can give your body, mind, and spirit. And I will walk you through it, helping you discover all the ways to eat without animal protein. You may be breaking from the crowd, but you will also, at least temporarily, find yourself leading the pack for more holistic and responsible living. More on that later…
All this said, while I want to warn you that you may have cravings, I also want to stress that there are many, many people who don’t have a hard time at all, and also stress that almost everyone feels lighter and more energetic within a day or two—I hear from people constantly who say they didn’t even realize that they could feel so good. Their lethargic way of being had become their constant; with the cleanse, they realized that they could have more energy, need less sleep, and feel lighter and clearer, just by breaking their reliance of foods that are not right for the human body.
Simply put, what you are doing in this cleanse is eliminating common cravings triggers, which are notorious for perpetuating the munchies (and then the self-flagellation that follows), as well as other nonconstructive eating habits. You are giving your body a break from artificial stimulants and depressants, and in so doing you will find your own natural balance. You are giving your body both a good detox and a chance to release itself from the vicious cycle of addictive eating or drinking and the shame that follows.
These are some big changes to make, I know, but we will take them methodically, learning about each as we go. It may feel like a swirl of chaos as you find your way, but things will become clearer and easier sooner than you can imagine.
The body is a brilliant and masterful system of healing and rejuvenation; it can often restore itself to perfect health if given half a chance. And the cleanse is part of that push toward restoration. It will give your body a reprieve from old and tired ways so that you can gather your strength and then surge to a higher level of wellness.
Why 21 days?
Because that’s about how long it takes for your tastes to reset. As your taste buds respond to healthier foods, you’re more likely to stick with new habits and be able to enjoy balanced blood sugar and freedom from old cravings.
There are so many reasons to do this cleanse. You may be motivated by a desire to trim a few pounds, or you may be doing it to detox from all the things you put in your body that you know are not the healthiest. Personally, I do it at least once a year simply to give my body a break. We all have routines or habits around food that come to control us, and the cleanse gives us a chance to see these habits with clear eyes.
I know that whenever I find myself thinking I “couldn’t possibly” give up this or that, I realize just how much I am owned and run by it. If it’s coffee that I think I can’t live without, I know it’s time to let go of coffee for a while and see what happens. If I’ve been turning to ice cream sundaes to calm my anxiety, then it’s ice cream sundaes that I have do live without, at least for a short time, so I can figure out that I am more powerful than the food. Don’t we all want to be free and strong and happy, rather than dragged through life by our petty attachments? A cleanse is a great place to start.
You see, the Quantum Wellness Cleanse is not just good for the body, but it’s also good for the soul. As you read my daily notes and pointers, you will learn about how to eat in a humane and compassionate way, and about how your choices play out in the environment.. After three weeks you can expect to have lost a little bit of weight and have more energy, but most importantly, you will have found a way to eat that aligns you with your inner values of kindness and integrity. You will most certainly be a whole lot healthier in every respect.
Doing this cleanse is one of the best ways I know to discover any negative emotional material we are covering over with food, so that we can shake it right out of our system. And the beauty of it is, you can take what feels right from this program and leave the rest behind.. Once you’ve done the work, you can add things back in, though many people find that they want to stick with the changes that have so improved the way they look and feel.
Some of the changes you can expect from the 21-Day Quantum Wellness Cleanse are:
more energy
clearer skin and eyes
weight loss
cessation of certain aches, pains, and digestive ailments
release from addictive habits
a profound and deepened awareness of your
personal power and the effect you have in the world
Truly, it is a jump start to a whole new level of living and being.
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Here’s the thing about wellness: it’s a continuum. We get better at is as we go. We get more informed, build esteem, and find what works as we keep putting one foot in front of the other. We develop new tastes and discover different and interesting foods, and we move into a new rhythm. And with every day that we say, “okay, I’m bigger than my old habits”, we rise to our greater selves. We soar.
Consider this cleanse a gift you can give yourself anytime you need it – a gift that will improve your overall wellness not only by giving you the best possible nutrition but by getting you to look at everything that comes up during the process: emotions, struggles, triumphs, new tools, and fresh ways of understanding how connected everything is.
You will discover how some of the foods from which you are abstaining have been affecting your body and your emotions. You’ll discover some of your emotional attachments to conditioned ways of thinking; For instance, when you’re unhappy, do you go for the ice cream? Don’t discount that as typical—it is, but it’s also something that you can overcome if you want to, at least for 21 days, and you’re likely to feel a deep sense of satisfaction when you do—and rightly so!). And that may also spur you to take a closer look at where that attachment came from and whether it makes sense to hold on to it when the cleanse is over.
To this day, I do the cleanse with the full knowledge that doing so gives my body a break from its heavy workload so that I can get rid of some old stored-up junk, but also that I am undertaking some of my most important inner work — freeing myself from certain attachments and challenging myself to better understand my inner life and how it connects to all of life. In this way, I not only heal myself, but I contribute to the healing of our precious world.
I encourage you to read through the book once to get a feel for the overall picture of the cleanse and then go back and take each day, one at a time. We’ll cover a lot of ground but in increments.
By the time you complete your first cleanse, you will know yourself so much better. You will find yourself relating to other people and the world around you in a more satisfying, more genuine way because you will be penetrating some of your own defenses, and you will find yourself on the whole, much clearer about so many things.
Over the course of the 21 days, I will be encouraging you to think deeply about where your food comes from and how its handling and its journey to your plate affect how you feel in your body and also how it affects the environment around you, and that will naturally raise your empathy for what others go through, too. This not only tends to make you happier on an individual level, it also makes for a friendlier world.
But best of all, you will be spending three weeks eating delicious, nutrient-dense, fiber-rich food. And you won’t be hungry at all!
This cleanse has no strange concoctions to drink, no pills you must go out and purchase. And of course it’s medically unassailable. Do consult with your doctor before beginning, though, as it’s always wise to check in. If you can, go to a doctor who is well versed in the latest peer-reviewed research on nutrition.
Remember, the cleanse is time limited. It is not a permanent change in diet. After the cleanse has been completed, you can go back to the way you were eating, if you so choose. And you still will have done yourself a favor, because by giving your body a break from the irritants of alcohol, caffeine, sugar, gluten, and animal products, your body will have gotten rest and a chance to heal. Your liver will have had a chance to purge some of the deeply held poisons it was too overwhelmed and burdened to deal with before. Your adrenal glands will have come back to life so you will most probably have more energy. Your brain cells will have begun to regenerate and make the “feel good” chemicals it is capable of producing when you aren’t leaning on alcohol. And just wait till you see how your skin will glow after your body ingests so many naturally occurring vitamins and minerals in the vegetables, beans, grains, and fruits you will be enjoying.
People often ask me about “discipline.” They worry that they won’t be able to get through it or do it perfectly. Here’s what I tell them: challenge yourself, but don’t make yourself (or others around you!) crazy. Do the best you can. If something such as soy milk, has a tiny bit of sweetener in it and you can’t find one that doesn’t, enjoy it without worry. If it’s your birthday or anniversary, have a glass of champagne (unless you think you are alcoholic and this would start a slippery slope). If you are at someone’s dinner party and they have absolutely nothing you can eat except the pasta and it’s not gluten free, have the pasta and then pick back up the next day. Our goal is progress, not perfection! This won’t be a piece of cake (OK, pun intended), but it shouldn’t be oh-so-difficult. The first few days will be the hardest, and then you will find your footing and off you go!
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For many people, it’s easier to do the cleanse with friends so that we can check in with and support each other. Some people start blog groups so that they can share recipes and fellowship. You might have a willing partner or spouse who is interested, or you may entice your entire office to join in, which always makes the cleanse a fun and interesting event. Often enough, though, you will be on your own, which is just fine too!
However you go about doing the cleanse, the journey will be uniquely yours, and the changes you experience will be perfect and appropriate for you. Get inspiration from your peers, but trust that your soul knows exactly what it needs to progress and thrive. Listen to the wisdom that will whisper to you along the way, and may you realize the shift in your life that you always knew was possible.
Anxiety and depression are widespread and the medical response is experimentation with drugs… these practitioners believe that mental issues are almost entirely due to chemical problems – it seems they want to play God and yet they don’t even acknowledge that our anxiety and depression mostly stem from our separation from serene spiritual living…
A paradigm-shifting guide to peak emotional wellness.
In SPONTANEOUS HAPPINESS, Dr. Andrew Weil redefines the notion of happiness and demonstrates the limitations of the biomedical model of mental health. He presents a vast, scientifically proven array of integrative treatment strategies for low mood and depression, drawing on techniques from Ayurveda, Buddhism, acupuncture, psychotherapy, mindfulness training, and much more. Dr. Weil offers advice on lifestyle, behavior, and dietary changes, and helps readers assess their own emotional well-being and build personalized step-by-step plans to manage their moods. Whether suffering from mild to moderate depression, or simply seeking greater contentment, readers can use Dr. Weil’s science-based integrative approach to achieve their goals.
Andrew Weil, M.D., is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, a healing oriented approach to health care which encompasses body, mind, and spirit.
Combining a Harvard education and a lifetime of practicing natural and preventive…
When you allow Him to correct your mind,
the rest of your life will fall into place.
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People I know really need this message. I’ll invest time as Dr. Dyer’s suggesting to practice staying obscure. I see the wisdom of letting God direct this universe without me pushing my nose up front as though it has mostly to do with me. Do you see the wisdom of letting God direct the universe? Hmm… would it be possibly as beautiful a universe if we followed my or your directions? Humility… letting what we know is coming come to us.
The sea stays low, and because the sea
stays low, all of the rivers and all of the
streams empty into it.
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I want to share with you this inspiring poem. As you may reflect and resolve for yourself improvement for your life, I hope that this will be a help. I pray that you may be filled with joy, peace, and love.
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The Slow work of God…
Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability — and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you; your ideas mature gradually — let them grow, — let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.
Simple is best when beginning anything. So, today, I’ll give you a simple practice for making the most of every moment. This technique comes from Thich Nhat Hanh.
Use this practice daily for a month — if stressed at all — if you are low on energy — if you are lacking sometimes in concentration; You will VERY likely notice a substantial difference — Or if this sort of practice is entirely new to you then you will notice a difference in that you now have a way to find inner peace and serenity.
Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the world’s leading teachers of mindfulness and meditation. He claims that life is available only in the here and the now; it is our “true home” according to his teachings. This mindfulness meditation is simple and isn’t at all religious.
I’ll summarize the five steps here.
Mindfulness (here and the now) living as a practice of five simple steps that you can use in just about every moment of your day.
Thich presents mindfulness (here and the now) living as a practice of five simple steps that you can use in just about very moment of your day.
1) Mindful Breathing, 2) Concentration, 3) Awareness of Your Body, 4) Releasing Tension, and 5) Walking Meditation
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Most people are often caught up in a state being preoccupied… forgetful of inner peace (true self); not really present at least during some of their time. Is your mind ever caught-up by worries, fears, by regrets, anger, by obsession? That is the state of “being forgetfulness” — here but, not here…. caught-up in being preoccupied.
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Thich Nhat Hanh’s method is designed to bring mindfulness home, into your body, to become more fully alive, and to perform the miracle of mindfulness — always. If you discipline yourself to practice the simple five steps, you can do so in every moment. The more that you are fully in the moment, the healthier will you be as we’ve discovered in my previous article.
Simple… the “Five Steps to Mindfulness” is a simple way to relax and energize. It brings more blood into the brain and it facilitates a deeply relaxed peacefulness. It is so simple you can use it all the time. Use it always.
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1. “Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in.”
You don’t make an effort. Allow your breath to take place. Become aware of it and enjoy it…. think: Effortlessness and simple Enjoyment.
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2. “The energy of mindfulness is the energy of concentration.”
Follow your in-breath from the beginning to the end. If your in-breath lasts three or four seconds, then your mindfulness also lasts three or four seconds. Breathing in, I follow my in-breath all the way through. Breathing out, I follow my out-breath all the way through. From the beginning of my out-breath to the end of my out-breath, my mind is always with here with my breath.
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3. “Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body.”
My body is here, so my mind ought to be here. Put peace and harmony in your breathing; the peace and the harmony will penetrate into the body, and the body will profit.
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4. “There is peace and harmony in your breathing.”
Practice this simple affirmation often during the day: “Breathing in, I’m aware of my body. Breathing out, I release the tension in my body.”
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5. “Every step is joy. “
You don’t make any effort during walking meditation, because it is enjoyable. You are here, body and mind together. The last step is to remind you during every transition that may occur in your day, be here, be relaxed, breathing and aware of peacefulness.
I begin the day with a simple mindfulness morning Meditation followed by a simple prayer and breakfast. It takes only a few minutes to get the day started and thus retain the benefit of rest and to charge up my body with lasting daytime energy. NOTE: while stillness of mind is ideal, the fact that we begin to notice bothersome thought is actually tremendous progress — so, expect progress and relax into realizing that with practice comes progress.
Alternatively, you may prefer this simple standing movement:
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If you like a more varied routine, try the video technique one day and the morning Meditation another day… the essential key to making progress is really that by increasing mindfulness, you will become more healthy, more energetic, and peacefully relaxed.
Intimacy With God/Knowing God. The New Birth. The Kingdom Of God. These three topics will be addressed as we discuss the aspects of our achieving intimacy with God.
John 17:3, New American Standard Bible (NASB)
3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
The aspect of knowing God is essential to the salvation of all human beings. It is not, merely, an awareness of Jesus, but a relationship that is described as being as close and personal as the physical relationship between a man and his wife. Strong’s reference number 1097 of the New Testament (Know) is directly related to the Old Testament reference number of 3045, in Genesis 4:1, in which Adam’s knowing Eve refers to his direct contact with her, in a sexual relationship. The 1097 reference also applies…
I was in peace with gentle knowing of a lovely vision this morning. I did watch this sky. In it a man about my age met me and we took a stairway. He told me of a dimensional mirror. He showed this to me. I saw the stillness of light and the universe in a single point. I saw this all reflect into the now. This was so lovely that all fear subsided. I was for that moment now-ness.
Eric
Eric
iated behaviour.
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Utilize breathing to reduce stress and anxiety, to increase your vitality, and to feel living in the moment more fully. Let go of self-image. Breath in comfortably and then fully exhale, breathing out all of the tension and thoughts. I like to visualize all of my thoughts being collected up into my breath as I inhale and then leaving from me as I exhale. This frees up inner space for serenity and peacefulness. I like to begin the day with personal freedom and without any task oriented agendas. Check my tips for a 
A paradigm-shifting guide to peak emotional wellness.
Andrew Weil, M.D., is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, a healing oriented approach to health care which encompasses body, mind, and spirit.
the Hunt for Truth 