Conscious Life Journal

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BRADEN The New Human Story

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HARMONY

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BALANCE

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CONTENTS 6

INTERVIEWS 6

Conversation with A Gregg Braden

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12

LIFESTYLE 26 T iny Houses John Kernohan

FEATURES 10 N ourish Yourself: 10 Easy Steps to Self-Care Nanette Littlestone

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12 Q igong Melba M. Black, PhD

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20 T he Yin and Yang Yin—Adele Wang Yang—Eric Atwood

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SPECIAL SERIES— Harmony and Balance 14

H armony in Romance Jason Hairston

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H armony in Community Ilana Firestone, Boris Shekeloff, and Sugar Goens-Baranco

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H armony in Family Relationships Irene Perler

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H armony at Work Cort Hayes

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H armony with Self Laina Orlando 2

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G oing Tiny Jenna Spesard

LET’S GET PERSONAL 30

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CONSCIOUS PERSPECTIVES 22 T he Empath at Work Sharron Ragan 23 T he Ultimate Love: Twin Flames Kate Rose 24 T he Unknown Russian Revolution Dr. Nelson Bulmash 25

U nderstanding the Global Water Crisis Sherri Danzig

C onscious 360° Overview— Summary of the 5 Stages; Question and Answer with Hope Merrill

31

S tage 1/Mind The Greatest Secret on Earth Guy Finley

32

S tage 2/Body Finding Balance Through Yoga Steven Weiss, DC, C-IAYT

34

S tage 3/Spirit With Malice Toward None Leona Evans

35

S tage 4/Integration Keeping the Body in Balance Leslie Clayton

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S tage 5/Balance What It Really Takes to Live in Conscious Balance Lisa Barnett

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COLUMNS 9

F ully Human, Fully Spiritual Diane Glynn

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M apping Higher Consciousness Jay Fenello

21

R eal Talk: Inspired Action Martha Burgess Novak

29

R efreshing Watermelon Brenda Cobb

35

H ealing with Essential Oils Angila Reid

37

B ubble Talk with Burge: A Balanced Perspective Burge Smith-Lyons

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MARKETPLACE

41

POETRY CORNER 41 T he Morning Arises Michael Burke

July/August 2018

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Editorial Board & Advisory Council Tammy Billups TammyBillups.com

Sharron Ragan SharronRagan.com

Melba Black, PhD SphereInnovationGroup.com

Bob Lancer LoveTheMethod.com

Robert Dallas, PhD TheDallasCenter.com

Lorelei Robbins RobbinsCosmicNest.com

Brian Perry yesbrianperry@gmail.com

Mary Simpson BeingGoodKarma.com

Martha Burgess Novak MarthaBurgessNovak.net

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Leona Evans CJK@msn.com

Laina Orlando laina@lainaorlando.com

Lisa Barnett Lisa@Akashicknowing.com

Jay Fenello Jay@MindVizor.com

Irene Perler irene_perler@hotmail.com

Nelson Bulmash ndbulmash2@gmail.com

Guy Finley barbara@guyfinley.com

Sharron Ragan sharron@sharronragan.com

Martha Burgess theburgessprocess@yahoo.com

Ilana Firestone ilana@lafmore.com

Angila Reid angireid@comcast.net

Melba M. Black, PhD melbadruid@gmail.com

Diane Glynn diane.glynn@unitynorth.org

Kate Rose wordsofkaterose@gmail.com

Michael Burke mmb801@yahoo.com

Sugar Goens-Baranco sgoensbaranco@gmail.com

Boris Shekeloff borisshekeloff@gmail.com

Leslie Clayton leslie@bodyawarenessstudio.com

Jason Hairston adeeperlove9@gmail.com

Burge Smith-Lyons burge@essenceofbeing.com

Brenda Cobb livingfoodsinstitute@gmail.com

Cort Hayes chayes@intergengroup.com

Adele Wang adele@safehavenhealing.net

Sherri Danzig sherri@sherridanzig.com

John Kernohan georgiatinyhouse@yahoo.com

Steven Weiss chiroyoga@yahoo.com

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Dear Conscious One,

We did it! This issue marks the last issue in our 6-issue series. Our heartfelt gratitude to all who work tirelessly to bring you, dear reader, the wisdom and guidance upon which you have come to depend. It is our honor to help you live a better life and be your best self.

Stay tuned for much more as we prepare for the next series that begins with the Sept/Oct Overview issue and then covers the 5 stages of healing—Mind, Body, Spirit, Integration, and Balance. Subscribe now to get all six issues delivered directly to your home or office! www.myconsciouslifejournal.com/subscribe In this issue we explore BALANCE. It is in this stage of healing that we live fully into joy and happiness. From a state of balance comes the freedom to act without drama or indecision. We have made the “sometimes difficult” choices about our inner world—who we are and who we choose to “be.” Now it is time to act as our outer world comes more into balance with our peaceful inner world.

Our interview this issue is with the amazing Gregg Braden. Speaking with Gregg was inspiring and, quite frankly, stretched my ability to grasp his beautiful concepts of our new Human Story. Gregg’s message is forward thinking, backed by real science and research while steeped in mysticism, history, and brilliance! I urge you to secure your ticket now for his September visit to Unity North.

Our series this issue covers Harmony—true balance. We explore harmony in romance, in our community, with our family, at work, and with ourselves. Don’t miss this series—it is powerful!

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INTERVIEW A conversation with

GREGG BRADEN

CLJ: We’d love to get your take on

the changes in the world that you’ve studied in the past, what you see happening now, and what you see in the future.

GB: The books in the past have addressed the shifts in the world.

The current book addresses the shift within us. There’s a place where the two meet. The best minds are telling us that we’re living in the time of “extremes,” which doesn’t mean that only bad things are happening in the world, or even good things. It means the things that are happening are affecting the world in big ways and we can no longer separate us and our everyday

lives from that world, so we’re all being affected in big ways. No one is exempt.

Even spiritual leaders living in remote locations are feeling the changes. I’m a geologist, with a strong background in the life sciences—molecular biology, molecular chemistry, invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology—and that gives me the ability to stay current with authentic scientific publications. It’s not our imagination that the world is changing. So when I look at our time of extremes, my question is, what’s driving the change?

There are three massive, natural cycles that are converging in a way we have never seen in 5000 years of recorded human history. The first of those cycles is the climate cycle. We’re

Gregg Braden is a five-time New York Times best-selling author and is internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science, spirituality and human potential! From 1979 to 1990 Gregg worked for Fortune 500 companies as a problem solver during times of crisis. He continues problem-solving today as he weaves modern science, and the wisdom preserved in remote monasteries and forgotten texts into real world solutions. His discoveries have led to twelve award-winning books now published in over forty languages. Gregg has shared his presentations with The United Nations, Fortune 500 companies, indigenous elders, 6

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in the midst of a shifting climate cycle that’s naturally driven. If there were no humans on earth we would still be going through a climate cycle.

This is also not the warmest the earth has ever been. In the mid-1800s we had the medieval warming period and in the late 1800s we had a mini ice age in parts of northern Europe. So extremes are part of our history and the cycle we’re living right now is very similar to one about 5000 years ago.

Because of this climate extreme we need to have clean, green, sustainable ways of creating energy. We could have stopped using fossil fuels over sixty years ago, which tells me that if there were a serious effort to change the way we create energy on our planet, I think

religious leaders, diplomats and the U.S. military, and he is now featured in media specials airing on major networks throughout the world. The United Kingdom’s Watkins Journal lists Gregg among the top one hundred of “the world’s most spiritually influential living people” for the fifth consecutive year, and he is a 2018 nominee for the prestigious Templeton Award established to honor “outstanding individuals who have devoted their talents to expanding our vision of human purpose and ultimate reality.” www.greggbraden.com

we would be following a different path than we are today. It also tells me it has yet to become a priority for us to make the shift collectively.

We’ve been led to believe that if we drive smaller cars and use different light bulbs somehow we’re going to reverse the climate cycle rather than understanding that this is a natural cycle. It’s only a problem if we’re not prepared for it. So if we embrace the fact that we are moving into this cycle of change we begin to live differently.

In addition to climate, we’re living the completion of one and the beginning of another economic cycle (second cycle) that began about sixty-five years ago. They can be very hard on personal finances and very detrimental to national finances. And it appears that the powers that be have a very short memory, because they’re making the same mistakes in this cycle that they made in the last cycle. We’re now living in a time when tangible assets are holding their value stronger than paper assets. We’re also living in a time of unprecedented global debt. The gross domestic output from the planet is less than the debt incurred. When that happens to a nation, typically another nation or the World Bank bailed them out.

But when an entire planet is in debt to the degree that we are, who bails out a planet? That would be enough to shift the way we think and live and it’s happening in conjunction with the climate cycles.

The third cycle that few people hear about is the cycle of human conflict. Science has found a solid link between cosmological cycles and human conflict and those cosmological cycles include the magnetic fields of the earth, shifting the magnetic fields of the sun, and the solar cycles of the sun. When the magnetic fields are strong, we tend to be less aggressive and more cooperative, more willing to work together to solve our problems, and more willing to give one another the benefit of the doubt when issues arise. When the magnetic fields are weak, we’re less cooperative, more aggressive, more fearful, and more suspicious. Beginning in 2014 we began the uptick of a cycle of conflict.

The better we know ourselves, the less fear we have of a changing world . . the less we fear other people because we trust in ourselves and our ability to embrace what it is that we’re seeing in our lives. The better we know ourselves the less we fear our own power.

Those are the things that open the door to the evolution that we’re all seeing, and it’s all about a new human story.

The magnetic fields are weakening and this cycle peaks in the year 2020; this is the weakest point in those magnetic fields.

Any one of these three cycles could be significant. The fact that all three are converging in a single lifetime is creating the change that we’re feeling. While we’re vulnerable and susceptible to conflict, we’re not slaves to the cycle. We always have choice. And when we recognize where we are in the cycles and our vulnerability, it also creates the greatest opportunity for peace, because we make the choice to extend the benefit of the doubt, to extend the olive branch, to recognize that we need now, more than ever, to be better listeners, and this happens on a personal and family level as well as between nations.

All three of these cycles are converging right now. So we have to think and live differently, now more so than we ever have in the past, and that’s what my work has been about for over thirty-three years now—the science that gives us the reasons to think differently about ourselves and our relationships to our bodies, to other people, and to the world. It overturns one hundred fifty years of scientific thinking, like Darwin’s ideas that nature’s based upon competition and conflict. Now we know that simply isn’t true. Nature is based upon cooperation and mutual aid, and the more conflict we see shows us how far we’ve strayed from the truest laws of the natural world. This is where science comes to bear in a really beautiful way with our everyday lives and our most cherished and

ancient spiritual traditions, spiritual principles of relationships that inform us about ourselves and our relationships with the world. These are the cycles that are causing change and now we’re being invited to think differently to meet that change in a healthy way.

CLJ: Don’t we have to make that transformation in order to survive?

GB: When we understand the nature of and the context within which we’re living our lives, when we understand the changes, when we understand the new discoveries and the new human story, then it becomes possible not just to survive but to thrive. But we’re living in a new normal now and that requires us to create a new baseline for our thinking. This is the really exciting part for me because science is giving us the reasons to do that.

Extraordinary abilities are being documented that are possible within the human body. We now know that every organ in the human body has the ability to repair and heal itself, including spinal cord tissue, brain tissue, heart tissue, and pancreatic tissue. They all have to be given the right environment—this is the key—and that environment can be nutritional or supplements, but a lot of it is an internal environment of thought, feeling, and emotion, and we now know that thought, feeling, and emotion is the key to triggering very specific states in the heart. The brain receives much of the information to tell it what to do from the heart, July/August 2018

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so now we’re talking about the heart and the brain, two separate organs, working in harmony to create this well-being within us. And when we create the right kinds of emotions within the heart we change the signals that are going to the brain, and the chemistry of the brain releases into the body and that provides an environment in the cells so the cells can do what we consider extraordinary things—super immune response, longevity and the ability to reverse the biological markers for aging, deep states of intuition, resilience to change, access to the subconscious so that we can introduce healing affirmations into the subconscious.

All these things are possible through harmonizing the heart and the brain in a very precise way and it’s being validated in laboratories of science such as the Institute of HeartMath. Science is leading us to the deepest truths of our existence that parallel so many of our most ancient and cherished spiritual traditions and it’s all happening when the cycles of change are driving us to think and live our lives differently than we ever have before. We have everything we need to thrive in the new world and this is the generation that’s making that shift so that we can think and live differently.

One of the new discoveries was made as recently as 1991. Scientists discovered about 40,000 specialized cells in the human heart that are called sensory neurites, essentially brain-like cells except they’re not in the cranial brain, they’re in the heart.

Scientists call these cells “the little brain in the heart.” They function the way that cells would if they were in the brain. They think independently from the cranial brain, they remember independently, they sense and feel independently. When we have a deeply emotional experience or an emotionally significant experience, we register that experience in two different places. So if we address the experience only in the cranial brain through conventional clinical techniques, what about the memories in the heart? Now that we understand this, we can go through healings that are more complete.

We’re also learning that we have the ability to do this for ourselves, to self-regulate in a way that no other life form can. We can sit down in a moment in time and say in this moment I choose, I choose to awaken the longevity enzymes that are dormant in my body, and this is what triggers a healing response and reverses the biological markers for aging. I choose to awaken a super immune response. I choose to open the door to a subconscious conversation with myself, and this is where affirmations of healing and changing unhealthy patterns would apply.

But we’ve got to speak to the subconscious in a language it recognizes. All this is self-

Fully Human

regulation. I choose to become more resilient to create greater resilience to the change I’m feeling in my life. I choose to awaken deep states of intuition on demand, not when it happens, but when I need it, so that I can understand and truly empathize as well as sympathize with people. All of these things and more are available through this ability to selfregulate the systems in our body, and they all boil down to a relationship between the heart and the brain.

We are the only form of life that can harmonize the neural network in the heart and brain, two organs, into a single potent system that gives us the extraordinary abilities no other form of life has. And when we do this, we access our greatest potential, our super learning and all of the self-regulation that I just shared. These are the things that we always thought were reserved for yogis and mystics. Now we know anybody can do it, and rather than thinking of it as an extraordinary state of being, I believe this is an ordinary state of being that we are designed to embrace in our daily lives to make life easier and more meaningful for us.

The better we know ourselves, the better equipped we are to deal with whatever life brings to our doorstep. The better we know ourselves the less fear we have of a changing world, the less fear we have of other people. The better we know ourselves the less we fear other people because we trust in ourselves and our ability to embrace what it is that we’re seeing in our lives. The better we know ourselves the less we fear our own power.

Those are the things that open the door to the evolution that we’re all seeing, and it’s all about a new human story. There’s a new human story that’s emerging and it’s a beautiful story and it’s a powerful story of hope and possibility and it’s all based upon self-awareness. d

Diane Glynn

Fully Spiritual

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n our previous column, Rev. Richard spoke about integrating the human and the divine parts of ourselves. One beautiful being experiencing both the physical and the sacred simultaneously. It is, indeed, who we truly are. Yet aren’t there some days where what you experience is more holy-crap than oh-soNamaste? Days when it’s all you can do to put one foot in front of the other with a smile on your face and a kind word on your lips? Feeling so off-balance that sitting in meditation or saying a prayer seems a bit like “fake it till you make it?”

I’m not alone in this, am I? The human world in which we exist oftentimes appears to be at odds with this path we have chosen to walk. Richard talked about experiencing “each day, emotion, thought, and challenge as the pathway to the awareness” that we are both human and spiritual. I love that line as it helps me find the balance I need when this human life wants to take control and move me off that path and stumbling through the rubble.

At those times I can recognize that this is part of the reason why I am here, now. It’s a reminder that everything I am—every emotion, thought, and challenge that I experience—brings balance to my life only if I acknowledge it. As my husband recently reminded me, the holy-crap moments are where some of the greatest opportunities are found. They are the stepping stones to the next Namaste moment.

If you are in the middle of a holy-crap day, bring focus to those things that will help you find center again. You know what they are for you. A meditation, a prayer, a walk, a song. Listen to your heart and not your head. Yes, it’s okay sometimes to “faith” it till you make it. It is a way to guide yourself home. Home where your heart opens again and home where your thoughts begin to find a peaceful ground on which to settle. The woes of your life and the perceived horrors of the world begin to diminish and the Divine You comes into focus.

The Divine You in balance with the Mortal You can see and feel what is occurring on the human plane while staying centered in the knowing that God is in control. Working as you in ALL that you do, Spirit brings you back to center.

The oh-so-Namaste you is now fully human, fully spiritual once again—conscious, integrated, and balanced. d

Diane Glynn is the Executive Director of Unity North Atlanta, a Spiritual Community in Marietta, GA where she is also a Prayer Chaplain. Through her writing, Diane teaches others how to incorporate spiritual practices into everyday life. Follow her on Facebook at This Moment and at yesthismoment.com Discover Sunday mornings with Richard Burdick!

At Unity North Atlanta, Sunday mornings are about you! We are in this together… on a journey of discovery. Learning, laughing, and growing, we take care of one another.

Start your week off energized and ready to live your life to the fullest! | unitynorth.org July/August 2018

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N o u r i s h 10 Easy Steps to Self-Care

by Nanette Littlestone

S

elf-care isn’t always about indulging yourself in manicures and late-night movies (although those are really important). Self-care is about doing what’s needed to have the life you want, no matter how difficult it may seem: Speaking up to your best friend or your boss, recycling the clothes you’ll never fit into no matter how many diets you try, asking for professional help so you can resolve your relationship or insomnia or whatever isn’t working. Now, more than ever, is the time for you to take care of you. The stronger and more centered you are, the easier it will be to weather what crops up.

Following are ten ways to step up your positive attitude and overall well-being:

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TAKE BABY STEPS

Whatever your goal, you don’t have to get there today. Or even tomorrow. Trying to get there too fast can cause stress and frustration and bring up feelings of “I’m not good enough” or “why can’t I be like him/her?”

Remember the wise saying, “All good things come to those who wait.” Picture the Buddha and see yourself smiling and patient. Make one new change in your lifestyle and see how that goes. When that’s working well, then add something else.

Take baby steps. There’s no hurry.

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SAY WHAT YOU MEAN

Are you afraid to express yourself because you’ll hurt someone’s feelings or your words might be misconstrued? Speaking up is much more than just saying “no.” When you don’t express yourself or stuff your feelings, people don’t have the opportunity to see and know the real you.

Being true to yourself not only empowers you, it empowers those around you. So don’t be afraid to speak your truth. When you say what you mean you honor yourself and you give others the chance to know you, the real you, the one they’re longing to know.

LET GO OF THE PAST

Isn’t it amazing how hard it is to let go?

Those events that transpired eons ago—the raise you didn’t get, the relationship that failed, a family member saying you’ll never amount to anything—can still create feelings of fear, anger, shame, guilt. And all that’s doing is ruining your current life. It’s time to let those puppies go. You don’t have to be stuck with that baggage. Coaching, energy healing, therapy, meditation, inner child work, tapping, there are hundreds of methods to help you access those memories and transform them. And when you rewrite the past, you create a brand new present.

APPRECIATE YOURSELF

CONNECT WITH SPIRIT It doesn’t matter whether you believe in God or the Divine or simply an energy that binds us all together. Seeing, understanding, believing, or knowing about that connection serves to calm you. You could be exercising or deep breathing or just looking at a flower, something that transports you out of your typical awareness. When you’re in that “zone,” you feel a deep inner peace that can transcend time and space. Those little moments are like nectar to your body, mind, and soul.

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To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How do you love yourself? Can you count the ways?” Appreciation goes farther than skin deep.

It penetrates to the core of your being and radiates beyond. The more you love yourself, the more lovable you become. We all have our flaws and faults, but this is about finding the things you like. Do you love your eyes, the way you support your friends and family, how you find joy in the little things? Start a list of the things you appreciate, at least one per day, and tell yourself how much you love that quality. Before you know it you’ll be

in love with YOU.

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REWARD YOURSELF

GET UP AND MOVE

Are you searching for acknowledgment?

Recognition? A little praise? You don’t have to wait for someone else to give it. Give it to yourself! It’s easy to overlook all the little things you do—cleaning the house, exercising, finishing that painting. But all those things matter and create space for the bigger things—an inviting home, a well-toned body, winning first place at the art show. Acknowledge your successes and reward yourself (the reward begins a pattern of self-acknowledgment). Take a bubble bath with lighted candles and soft music. Indulge in that dark chocolate. Buy yourself a new dress. You deserve it!

Exercise may be a dreaded word, but the body is designed to move. Exercise improves your mood, increases endorphins, and decreases stress. So get up and move! You don’t have to join a gym. Even little movements can help. Try stretching or ease into yoga or qigong. Walking outdoors is fantastic. Or dust off your stationary bicycle or elliptical machine.

If you’re at work and you only have a minute or two, get up from your desk and take a brisk walk around the office. Movement makes the body happy and a happy body means a happier you.

BE GRATEFUL Giving thanks is one of the most important aspects of self-care. If you do nothing else, be grateful for who you are and what you have. As in self-appreciation, find something to be thankful for—your job, your friends, your spouse, your health, your house, the food you eat, the ground under your feet. Nothing is too small. Giving thanks creates a beautiful vibration that increases your prosperity and attracts more to be thankful for. [Try the thirty-day experiment in Thank and Grow Rich by Pam Grout.]

LAUGH AND PLAY

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When was the last time you felt like a little kid? Remember playtime?

Hopscotch, jump rope, hide and seek, jacks?

Games that made you laugh and squeal with pleasure? Your inner child is still with you, wanting to come out and play. Fun lights up your soul and makes you radiate with joy.

So dip your toes into a nearby lake, pull out the croquet set, play some badminton or horseshoes or miniature golf. Get your joy on! You might be surprised how wonderful you feel.

FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

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Now that you’ve revitalized your inner child, take a moment and recapture your dreams. What did you want to be when you grew up? Dreams are fueled by your imagination, and your imagination is endless. If you wanted to be a painter, what about a painting class? If you thought about writing, try an online course or join a writer’s group. If you wanted to be an astronaut, visit a space camp. It’s never too late. Creativity and exploration are like candy to your soul. So let your imagination loose and explore.

You’ll feel recharged and restored.

There’s no guarantee that life won’t throw you more curveballs. As we all know, it’s a crazy obstacle course. But if you use some or all of the steps here, you will be a happier, healthier, and more prosperous YOU. d Best-selling author, editor, writing coach, and publisher, Nanette Littlestone’s mission is to help authors write from the heart and inspire others. She has worked with notable spiritual leaders, including David Ault and Jane Beach, and is the author of F.A.I.T.H. – Finding Answers in the Heart and The Sacred Flame. www.wordsofpassion.com July/August 2018

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Qigong

by Melba M. Black, PhD

Mind the body and the breath, and then clear the mind to distill the Heavenly elixir within.

Taoist Philosopher

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The early Qigong Masters understood the relationship between heaven and earth and how we are connected to them.

This combination of self-awareness with self-correction of the posture and movement of the body, the flow of breath, and stilling of the mind are thought to comprise a state which activates the natural selfregulatory (self-healing) capacity, stimulating the balanced release of endogenous neurohormones and a wide array of natural health recovery mechanisms which are evoked by the integration of body and mind.

These wise and ancient masters observed nature and the cosmos.

The cycles and movements of the animals and the energy of the elements were studied in order to participate and collaborate with their environment. The masters began to understand that these forces/energies of nature and the universe were to help humanity not only to heal itself, but to assist in the healing of all living things.

Qigong (Chi Kung) is a powerful health exercise, which has been practiced for centuries by millions of Chinese. It is based on repetitions of very precise sets of movements, specifically designed to benefit health on many different levels. Qigong is easy to learn and enjoyable to do. Even a few minutes of practice can have an invigorating and rejuvenating effect.

Regular practice brings about a deep strengthening effect for the whole body and its various systems (nervous, digestive, respiratory, skeletomuscular, hormonal, gynecological, and cardiological).

Its ability to help in healing a large variety of chronic and acute injuries and illnesses has been the subject of various research programs led by the Chinese medical authorities and the National Institutes of Health.

The aim of Qigong is to promote the movement of Qi (energy) in the body; this is done by opening certain gates (chakras and meridians). A key point in Qigong practice is using many breathing techniques for relaxation and clearing and balancing the Qi in the body.

Here are a few tips when learning and practicing.

Qigong: • R emain balanced and centered, aware of the whole body.

• K eep the body relaxed.

Keep the eyes relaxed, open and soft.

• K eep your elbows and knees and wrists relaxed, even when extending your limbs. Don’t lock your elbows, knees, wrists, or finger joints.

• L et energy flow through the body and let the body move naturally, like silk.

• I nhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Breathe naturally and without force. Let your breath lead your movement.

The body “rides” the breath.

Some Qigong movements are very gentle, others more vigorous.

Some movements are very large and expansive where others are more subtle, almost imperceptible.

All are different and have a very specific effect on body and mind.

The deeper one practices, the more one can understand the purpose of each movement, allowing the Qigong practice to become ever more enjoyable. Visit www.sphereinnovationgroup.com for local beginning level Qigong classes or explore the many healing art studios in your area. d Melba M. Black, PhD, CLC is a writer, mentor, innovator, and scholar. She has over thirty years of experience in holistic health, spirituality, and energy healing, including Life Coaching, Reiki, Intuitive Development, Meditation, Yoga, Qigong, and more. She currently teaches classes and conducts personal sessions at Sphere Innovation Group. www.sphereinnovationgroup.com July/August 2018

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s e r i e s

B A L A N C E

When we are in harmony with the earth and the people around us, our cells are in harmony with us. It’s disharmony that creates cellular degeneration and disease.

y n o in Romance m r Ha – Lewis Mehl Madrona

by Jason Hairston

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hat does it truly mean to be in a harmonious relationship? What are the benefits?

We are all instruments of God playing tunes based on the pitch of our vibrational frequencies. Orchestrating our own lives every step of the way. Each relationship is a dance. The interaction creates a musical harmony.

Whenever notes clash, a more cordial composition can be re-written. Couples are songwriters of their soundtrack. The feature presentation is an ongoing story of potential evolution.

Relationships are learning modules to discover more about yourself. When your partner strums your emotional triggers, this is an opportunity to retune your guitar. The pain you may feel points to a

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subconscious wound causing you to play a note out of key.

There should be no shame in admitting you are flawed. In fact, being vulnerable in that very moment gives your partner an opportunity to support and empower you. A container of conscious love establishes a mutual self-help station.

Having emotional intelligence is the ability to process the ups and downs of irrational emotions from an objective point of view while expressing yourself lovingly and empathetically. This mature approach serves as the foundation of a harmonious relationship.

Being honest and accountable for your actions will build a bond of honor and respect serving as a sturdy bridge of connectivity.

The following emotional intelligence tools can help keep balance and harmony within your relationship.

• BE HONEST: It is vital to express how you genuinely feel. Your partner deserves an opportunity to have insight into your true nature. From this vantage point they will be able to adjust more accordingly to your valid needs and concerns.

• LISTEN: We all have the desire to be heard. Giving your partner space to express fully makes them feel valued and respected.

• BE PRESENT: Sitting in silence and eye gazing with your mate allows you to communicate beyond words.

You cultivate an intimate, energetic experience based outside of the five senses. The depth of connecting in this way will expand your physical intimacy to new heights.

• BE VULNERABLE: Reveal your strengths and weaknesses. Put all of your cards on the table so your partner can love every part of you respectfully. This way you both can develop ideas on how to balance out each other’s delicate personality traits.

• MAINTAIN YOUR INDIVIDUALITY: Allow your significant other space to develop personal goals continually.

Losing yourself in a relationship will eventually lead to resentment.

• BE ACCOUNTABLE: When you make a mistake, own up to it and take personal responsibility for it. Take the proper actions needed to balance out the deed.

Those who utilize emotional alchemy and love create harmony and expansion. Those who resort to projections tainted with trauma generate disharmony and destruction.

Maintaining a balanced relationship involves conscious emotional maintenance. Pain does not have to be a problem; it can be embraced as a challenge instead.

Whether you grow apart or grow together, being committed to selfgrowth is the best way to show up within a relationship. d Jason Hairston’s personal desire to become a better human being was the catalyst which led to his discovery of many profound selfmastery tools. Jason’s passion for helping others has not only been life-changing for those he works with but for himself as well. www.jasonhairston.com

y n o in Community m r a H A

by Ilana Firestone, Boris Shekeloff, and Sugar Goens-Baranco

ll of us have communities—it could be family, intentional living with a group of people, or a band of yoga buddies.

Creating harmony in relationships, in a couple or a larger group, starts with the individual. It’s easier to find fellowship in relationships if you’re in harmony with yourself. One way to say that is “finding yourself right.”

Our philosophy at Morehouse is that you are perfect and perfection includes the potential for change. Every person constructs their universe using their senses and conceptual thought. Then they judge their creation however they see fit.

When you start from the point of view that I am right, the situation I’m in is right, and the people I’m relating with are right too, your chances of getting into harmony with others increases dramatically. If you can get into agreement with what is, it’s a lot easier to make things the way you want them to be.

Communication is also key. To create harmony with others, you need to communicate with the people around you to not only understand where they’re coming from but also create a feeling of unity or like-mindedness. Understanding resolves conflict and you don’t have to agree on every little thing. What’s really important is that everyone feels heard and understands that their viewpoint matters.

When it comes to relationships, whether it’s a partnership, friendship, or an entire community, there is no harmony if someone is in fundamental disagreement with the direction the group is going. Either everyone wins or everyone loses. You can’t win at the expense of someone you love or live with. It just doesn’t feel good to get your way if the price is your friend’s happiness.

In light of that, our founder Victor Baranco invented a way to relate in a win/win fashion, called the One No Vote system. Every member of our community has an irrevocable “no vote” or veto power on any proposed action. This forces us to take each other into consideration, especially when we might otherwise be tempted to go for progress over pleasure or to disregard someone because of our prejudices.

The reason relationships end is because people feel ignored, so guaranteeing that everyone gets heard is essential to a group’s pleasurable survival and harmony.

But disagreements inevitably arise that can engender disharmony. At that point you have a choice: you can be mad or you can be interested in what’s going on and why. It can be easy to let your goals and agenda take precedence over the relationship, but we’ve found that in talking things out, everyone can have everything they want and more if they are willing to look for a winning solution.

An important note to keep in mind is that while harmony is nice as a baseline, it’s not necessarily something to strive for exclusively. The goal of life isn’t actually harmony; the goal of life is motion. Human beings like action, we like things to be happening.

Now there is definitely motion in going from conflict to communication to understanding to agreement and harmony, and there is fun to be had all along the way. At Morehouse, we recognize that we want action, like everyone does, and we want it to be fun. Our point of view is, fun is the goal and love is the way. d Ilana Firestone is a senior teacher of the More philosophy and has been living in the community since 1981. She helped raise Boris Shekeloff and Sugar Goens-Baranco, who grew up in the community and are now married with a child of their own. Boris and Sugar also teach Morehouse courses. The three are good friends who enjoy working and living together. http://www.lafayettemorehouse.com/ July/August 2018

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y n o in Family Relationships m r a H B A L A N C E

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’m a child of the 1960s and 70s when Coca-Cola advertised, “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.” This image speaks to the heart of the times, the desire for solidarity and connections across race, gender, age and cultural differences. However, this was still a time where “Father knows best” and “children are meant to be seen and not heard.” Mothers and fathers had strong social expectations to fill roles of happy, dutiful homemakers and breadwinners motivated by money and

class status. I felt the strain in my family relationships as my immature parents tried to fulfill these conventional roles during a time when society was shifting towards a new paradigm.

Most parents are unsure how to balance their full lives and maintain peaceful relations at home. I believe that parents must begin with themselves to decide what their values are and how they will live them, and then negotiate with their family to create a set of shared values and goals. Time for self-

by Irene Perler

reflection, slowing down, deep listening, appreciation, and also truthfully admitting challenges are the foundational skills of a conscious life. Parents who model this have a greater chance at staying grounded, calm, and happy.

Harmony, like grace, can simply happen when everyone is in the present moment in an open and trusting relational environment. Families who set a conscious intention for a way of life together can co-create the kind of experiences they want. d

HERE ARE SOME APPROACHES AND CREATIVE ACTIVITIES THAT FOSTER HARMONY: • H ONOR THAT EACH PERSON IS A UNIQUE BEING on his/her own journey. This creates the right relationship in order to observe and enjoy the uniqueness of each family member.

• W hen conflict gets “hot,” practice times where everyone takes space to SETTLE DOWN AND REGROUP. Invite everyone to a “do-over” where either you let go of what was difficult or agree to try to understand each other without the emotional charge. This is a good way to encourage and learn emotional control, followed by intentional reconnection.

• L earn and practice skills of DEEP LISTENING in order to hear your own heart and that of others. Work to fully appreciate what is lying under the surface of our words. Heart talk leads to collaboration and sense of unity.

• C REATE A FAMILY NIGHT EACH WEEK. Cook a fun meal together. Encourage telling stories of interactions that were pleasant during the week as well as those that didn’t go so well. Make suggestions about what could make it go better next time and follow up with a favorite game or activity everyone likes.

• Work to RESPOND WITH WARMTH TO HURT FEELINGS without having to fix it right away. Ask: “Would you like to tell me more about it and how it feels?” Also ask “What could make it better?” Offering a hug first can go a long way.

Bear in mind that it is the process, more than any product, which ultimately creates a feeling of unity. At the end of the day, family harmony comes from respect for individuality, deep listening followed by heartfelt responses, learning to talk openly with one another, being creative together, and appreciating that everyone is doing their best.

Irene Perler lives and works at Sahale Ecovillage in rural Washington State. Parent of two grown children, director of Sahale Summer Camp and twenty-year-coordinator of the Family Enrichment Network of the Goodenough Community, her passion is for learning about human development and creating peaceful and meaningful family life.

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y n at Work o m r Ha

by Cort Hayes

establishes the foundational building blocks for a balanced and healthy work environment. Engaging people in a way that allows them to freely share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings communicates value for their intellectual and emotional worth.

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he workplace is subject to whatever relational balance is present. If a toxic cloud has settled over our workplace relationships, or the leaders foment a constant state of chaotic disorder, we will be affected.

Every organization has a unique relational equilibrium all its own, what we commonly refer to as an organization’s culture. Some cultures are premeditatedly formed, some develop on their own, but in every case the culture is a reflection of its relational balance.

The condition that has an even distribution of values that promote intellectual and emotional stability enables us to maintain a harmonious balance in life. So let’s explore a few key components that will promote a harmonious balance in our workplace relationships.

EVERYONE MUST HAVE A VOICE. When people are treated as though their knowledge is not valued, they’ll hoard their best thinking and ideas, reject ideas from others, and be unwilling to invest their energy or give their best efforts. Conversely, the workplace environment that allows a forum for respectful and positive discussion and feedback

ANYONE WHO REGULARLY SHARES THOUGHTS AND IDEAS DOES SO IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF ACCEPTANCE.

When people are recognized for their intellectual value, they’re willing to share their knowledge. When people are recognized for their emotional value, they’re emotionally joined to the organization and inspired to give their best efforts. Therefore recognition of intellectual and emotional value inspires strong intrinsic motivation, causing people to go beyond the “call of duty.”

INTEGRITY IN LEADERSHIP.

The constant presence of chaos as a dominant force in any environment reduces productivity and generates stress and fatigue. The first benefit an organization experiences from the relational alignment between its leaders and its people is peace. The presence of peace is a necessary foundation for all growth and prosperity. When leaders demonstrate integrity it cultivates a relational alignment between the leaders and the people that follow—not based on rules or fear, but on confidence, respect, and trust—resulting in an environment that fosters creativity and growth.

CLARITY IN VALUES, MISSION, AND GOALS.

Clarity cuts through doubt and reluctance and unifies and focuses people on what is important. Without

y n with Self o m r a H

clarity each person is left to interpret each situation individually, which can lead to misunderstandings and misaligned expectations. When there is a harmonious understanding regarding the values, mission, and goals, everyone knows the importance of how their work relates to the whole enterprise. Only then can they work effectively toward a common objective.

INCLUSION AND PARTICIPATION. Those who feel that they are not included want to disrupt the balance.

Once people believe they are valued, they in turn value the group and see a benefit to its relational structure. Value also includes the fair and equitable application of rules consistently applied to all; nothing disrupts harmony and balance more than the perception of favoritism or nepotism.

Workplace harmony and peace is fostered where people are valued, allowed a voice, have clarity in the mission and goals, and judgments and rules are evenly applied to all.

Few workplace environments have all of these elements functioning, but intentionally promoting one or two of these concepts will produce manifold benefits that will be multiplied throughout the workplace.

Peace and harmony are contagious and it often begins with a simple gesture from one person. Will that be you? d Cort Hayes is a seasoned executive with more than thirty-two years’ experience in providing technology consulting to many industries, including general manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, Aerospace, insurance, and banking.

He is a certified entrepreneurship instructor and enjoys spending time with aspiring and existing business owners, helping them to clarify their vision to take their businesses to the next level. www.intergengroup.com

Laina Orlando

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here is only one way to be in harmony with your Self, and that is to awaken to the fact that Harmony is your true nature. The real question then is how do you discover your True nature?

As cliché as it may be, a walk in nature is a great place to discover your True nature. By observing all of the separate components in a forest—the trees, July/August 2018

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rocks, plants, ground, sky, critters, etc.—and allowing your vision to focus on any one section within the forest, it won’t take long for you to begin to notice how interconnected everything is.

It’s as if everything is suspended on an imaginary canvas—an invisible field—on which all of these seemingly separate things seamlessly weave their existence within one another.

When you step back and widen your gaze, taking into account that invisible field, you will notice that there truly is no separation between any of these things.

Where does one “thing” start and the other end, when each is interdependent on the other within a system designed to naturally coexist in harmony?

As an individual, you’ve been taught to believe that because you have a human body you are separate from others. Becoming Conscious is the journey of discovering that you are actually interconnected to all that is because, as with the forest, all of humanity is on a canvas—an invisible field—made of energy. Since our busy individual lives tend to focus on a very small piece of the whole of humanity, over time our perspective becomes skewed and we forget that we are not only held within the same energy, but that we each are actually made of the same energy.

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Being in harmony with our Self requires that we become conscious about the energy that is the substance we are each made of, for it is this substance—Life Force—that animates All There Is.

Mapping Higher Consciousness

Jay Fenello

MEDITATION

with Interim Brain States The Harmony Point (THP)

Normal Consciousness

Single Point Awareness (SPA)

Transcendence

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his series of articles shows common approaches to higher states of consciousness, and how they are related to transcendence. To summarize, most world traditions target two brain states that help people with their inner journey. Here they are presented graphically in this Map of Transcendence.

SO, WHAT ARE THESE BRAIN STATES, AND HOW DO WE GET THERE? Normal Consciousness

In ordinary consciousness, there are many things competing for our attention.

We have five senses telling us what we are seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling. We have thoughts about our family, work, and other obligations.

We have emotions . . .

Just as a forest operates in harmony, from a 50,000-foot-high perspective, it also becomes evident that humanity has been designed to operate in harmonious coexistence. It must, since we are all interconnected as families, countrymen, students and teachers, employees and bosses, musicians and music lovers, etc.

Being in harmony with our Self requires that we become conscious about the energy that is the substance we are each made of, for it is this substance— Life Force—that animates All There Is. Once we are conscious that, although we appear to be separate from one another, we are each actually an integral part of the whole, taking care of our Self becomes a sacred journey. A journey that invites us to recognize how important each and every “individual” expression of Life is to the whole of creation.

Being in harmony with your Self requires that you become intimately acquainted with all of your body parts, mind, Spirit, and, of course, your heart. Much as a forest requires many components to generate a vibrant ecosystem, the recognition that your Self is a vast system too will allow you to love and be at peace with each and every aspect of you.

This makes a harmonious Self! d Inspired by her own awakening, Laina Orlando simplifies spirituality so it’s easy to understand and practical to apply in everyday life. Her mantra is: “Life is fun and easy!” Laina is an author, speaker, Awareness Coach, and creator of The Power of Awareness program and The Awareness Academy. www.LainaOrlando.com

From this list and more, our awareness typically jumps from one “attention seeker” to another, resulting in a stream of consciousness that we experience as “normal.”

The Harmony Point (THP)

The opposite of normal consciousness is The Harmony Point. It’s where all of the competing attention seekers are quieted, making higher states of consciousness more easily accessible. (Notice that each green line represents a different attention seeker, which can be of a physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual nature.)

Single Point Awareness

Single Point Awareness is THP plus a single point of focus for your awareness.

This focused awareness can occur with any of the green lines, meaning that it can be of a physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual nature.

SPA can also vary by intensity (how big the line is). Many traditions, for example, teach low intensity approaches that can be used to attain THP. SPA can also be more intense, resulting in higher states of consciousness. Arguably, most human progress occurs within this type of Single Point Awareness.

Transcendence

The most intense form of SPA is Transcendence. That’s when SPA “breaks through” to something outside of normal awareness.

Some say it’s a connection to source, or to God, or to the Akashic records. Whatever it is, it’s unusual, profound, and life-changing.

In closing, it’s important to recognize that these higher brain states can occur at any time, with or without preparation.

However, those who pursue a regular meditation practice are more likely to attain these states, and benefit as a result. d

Until next time . . .

Jay Fenello is the creator of the MindVizor, a ganzfeld meditation aid that provides benefits similar to floating, without the mess or expense. Visit the MindVizor.com website for product details and tips on meditation and mindfulness.

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YinYang

AN EXPLORATION OF OUR INNER FEMININE AND MASCULINE

by Adele Wang

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How do women and men take action?

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by Eric Atwood

s humans, we are naturally wired to take action towards what we want—to create lives of joy and fulfillment. Most people wouldn’t feel fulfilled with a life of no action, and the ability to take action is part of creating lives that work.

Men and women both balance masculine and feminine energies to create our lives. We’d all be very dysfunctional if we didn’t. But the difference between men and women is in how they prefer to balance those energies. The masculine essence tends to favor more masculine energy, while the feminine essence favors more feminine energy.

For example, when men take action, while they draw upon feminine energies of creativity, reflection, and engagement, they tend to put more weight on the masculine energies of succinctness, efficiency, directness, reliability, and productivity.

The style of action tends to be more linear, compartmentalized, and individual oriented. What worked last time? What is the end game?

Similarly, women also balance masculine and feminine energies. When they take action, while they use the masculine energies of strategy, planning, focus, and structure, they tend to favor more feminine energies of engagement, creativity, relationship building, and cooperation. How can teamwork be improved for more support of everyone, and what would be a holistic approach towards the goal?

My husband and I are a good example of this. Bill often offers me advice on how to run my business. As a business owner, I am faced with a multitude of decisions on how and when to run workshops, how to structure offerings, or how to respond to certain challenges. The advice Bill gives me usually tends to be logical, strategic, competitive, and focusing on capabilities of time and resources. How much money would I make from an endeavor? What are other people in the space doing? How much time would it take?

Meanwhile, I tend to consider questions that are more around what I would enjoy doing, and how it feels intuitively.

Who I would be working with, and who on my team would be available to help me, and would they want to do more for me? What projects would feel the most fulfilling? What colors for my offering page get me the most excited? Creating from enjoyment and relationship, along with a desire for beauty and pleasure, are feminine principles. They are part of the feminine essence.

Both approaches work. It’s a matter of preference and which style feels better. By understanding these differences, men and women can appreciate and celebrate the strengths the opposite gender brings. d

f the typical man had a mantra when it comes to taking action, it might be “Just get the job done.” Most men like to accomplish things, focusing primarily on the end goal or result. When faced with a task, project, or problem, men tend to strategize, analyze, and plan how to achieve their desired result.

Women, on the other hand, tend to want someone to listen and understand.

Men often try to “go it alone.” Even if they don’t know what they’re getting into, they’ll try to figure it out themselves. They are more reluctant than women to ask for help or admit they don’t know how to do something. Doing things on their own is a way to try to show strength and know-how, often from being taught to be self-reliant or that asking for help is considered weak or unfitting.

We’ve all heard of men avoiding asking for directions when driving, not going to the doctor’s office for some kind of pain or ailment, or not asking their spouse, friend, or colleague for help with a simple problem. Thinking they can take care of these types of things by themselves, or that something they’re dealing with isn’t that serious, can lead to deeper mental, emotional, or physical health issues (including stress, anxiety, inadequacy, and disease). It can also cause things to simply not get done, or not get done as quickly and successfully as they otherwise would.

Overestimating their abilities or trying to show off and be “macho” gives men a positive chemical boost in their brains when dealing with conflict or competition. I’ve had several men come to me who overestimated their ability to be good public speakers. Women come to me before attempting public speeches, wanting to learn this skill and prepare well in advance. The men thought they could effectively deliver engaging public presentations based solely on their experience and knowledge. But they soon realized that doing this well is a learned skill.

Men are also typically more inclined to take risks and be more adventurous when dealing with a situation or task. They tend to consider and allow for risk and uncertainty when preparing for action, following the “fortune favors the brave” adage more than women.

Although many men approach situations and tasks differently and more mindfully, it’s useful for men, in general, to be more prudent and think more consciously when they act: be willing to think about how they feel about what they’re doing, consider others when they’re acting, and ask for help if they don’t know something.

When they integrate these elements into their decision making, the result of “getting the job done” will likely be significantly better. d

Adele Wang helps smart, spiritual, perfectionist women clear stress so they can create more personal and professional success. As a mentor, energy healer, and Art of Feminine Presence instructor, she helps women reduce overwhelm and increase their magnetic presence so they can attract who and what they want into their lives. www.safehavenhealing.net

Eric Atwood is a corporate trainer, presentation coach, Speaking Circles® facilitator, and CEO of The Speakers Studio, supporting individuals and teams to communicate effectively. He is also author of the book New Thinking New Being, which offers personal stories, powerful insights, and practical exercises to help people achieve better outcomes in life. www.TheSpeakersStudio.com

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RealTalk

with Martha Burgess Novak

Inspired Action I

grew up in the theatre as an actor, had an acting school for many years, and turned out great talent. What creates “inspired acting” and “inspired action” are really one and the same. It’s all peak performance energy.

One day, there was a mutiny before acting class. It consisted of five very angry students. Their complaint was this: when I critiqued their performances, I gave them the same note over and over again and they were sick of it. They wanted new and better notes, notes that were more interesting, notes that they heard me giving to other students. But all I ever said to these five people was, “Raise your energy level because you are not real.” By this I meant that I could see them “acting,” pretending, and this is the difference between inspired performance, which is inspired action, and schlock.

I told them that in spite of how they felt, the note I was giving them was the only note worth having. The reason was no matter what characters these five people were playing, they weren’t real. They weren’t emotionally honest. They were hiding. They wanted the great critique without the work and they weren’t acting for the right reason: service.

Instead, it was all about them and what they wanted to get.

Inspired acting, as well as inspired action, starts with an energy level. The potential for what you want must exist in energy before it exists in reality. If you play golf and want

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your ball to make it to the green, are you going to use just enough energy in your swing for only five yards? Of course not.

So the wild, passionate love affair, the rage in which you throw the glass against the wall, the seething frustration, all must be played emotionally and energetically with authenticity and reality.

We don’t have to be actors to realize that many of us go through life holding back, hiding, waiting, being safe, wondering why things happen for other people but never for us. We don’t use our God-given energies to explore our world, to learn about ourselves, to evolve into the beings we want to be, and to be visible at last and full participants in our lives.

The fantastic feats we hear about on the news, the inspired ideas, and the heroic kindnesses are in a specific energy level in you. There’s a world out there bigger than the stage you’re currently playing on. I remember what my first acting coach said to me when I was a child: “Use the whole stage.” I hope you will use the whole world. d Martha Burgess Novak is a spiritual teacher, author, lecturer, and peak performance trainer who works with individuals and corporations. She also has a school for spiritual healing and development where she teaches her method and is the author of The Life You Want and The Teacup Prophecies.

Visit her radio show on www.blogtalkradio.com/marthaburgessnovak. www.marthaburgessnovak.net

The Burgess Process A comprehensive program of healing for all serious students of consciousness that is totally unique! Learn to live the life you really want by unearthing the deep and complex psychology of the egoic child’s mind. Address the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual bodies, while Martha takes you on the most amazing journey of your life through her no-nonsense approach.

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July/August 2018

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CONSCIOUS BUSINESS The Empath at Work

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o you feel energetically bombarded at work and tend to burn out easily?

Does your work environment feel heavy the moment you walk in the door?

The most common ability in highly sensitive, emotional people is being an empath.

An empath is a person who experiences what other people are emotionally experiencing as they experience it. For some it’s manageable; for others it can be overwhelming and frustrating, especially in the work environment. This can become a miserable and desperate experience causing you to feel that you are in the wrong job, business, or are just not able to tolerate the chaotic energy that surrounds you.

I’m an Empath.

It’s been a life-long journey of self-discovery, awakening, and learning how to manage my energetic sanity in a current world of increasing spiritual vibrations, world chaos, and political discord.

It took a long time for me to acknowledge and accept my abilities and learn how to manage my birthright skills.

But there’s good news.

There is a way to cope and I’ve combined my best experiences and success in the business world to help you figure out who you are, how to thrive, and turn your sensitivity into strength in the workplace. Most importantly you must learn to “protect” your empathic energy in the workplace and only allow others’ feelings to empower you.

You can learn how to center yourself without feeling too much or becoming overloaded. The first step is to acknowledge that you are an empath and be willing to set boundaries for yourself.

C O N S C I O U S

P E R S P E C T I V E S

by Sharron Ragan

THEN FOLLOW THESE FIVE STEPS:

1. Explore Yourself and Your Soul Who are you? What are you at a soul level? Do research about empaths, take a class on energy work, and talk to others who are empaths. Be willing to be open-minded and learn how to bring your soul to work. You are not a victim of your sensitivity. Stop making excuses. With discipline and the correct usage, empathy will give you an advantage and an opportunity to succeed in many areas of your work life.

2. Learn to Disconnect Being around people can be draining. Give yourself time to be alone to recharge. Get away from the energy. You cannot take everything personally. You must learn to discern.

Discernment is detaching from emotions in decisions or situations or interactions with others. Step back. See a 22

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situation for what it is and pull your emotional attachment back into yourself. Practicing this action daily can change your entire outlook about your career.

3. Begin with the End in Mind Empaths who have not recognized or mastered their skills will tend to feel negative in the present. Rather than looking at and feeling obstacles as negative, see them as a positive outcome. Focus on what you want to achieve at work in the future without becoming emotionally connected to what others are achieving. Practice The Law of Attraction. It does work.

It’s important to think about your daily action to shift from negative to positive thinking and feeling. Remember, what you focus on expands. Learn to shift your perspective.

4. Be Proud and Accept Your Abilities Use your gift to do more good in the workplace. You can feel what others are feeling. Use this skill to shift the energy by shifting your energy. Pay attention to emotional and soulful tones of meetings, co-workers, and business interactions. Be immediately observant of the feelings in a meeting room or your building. Also remember to pay attention to your feelings and make sure you are blocking any negative invasions. Use your abilities to be smarter, more proactive, and ahead of everyone else with a nonattachment to the outcome.

You are an empath for a reason—to do good and to spread good in the world.

5. Serve Your Own Needs Stop serving others at your own expense. You must take care of you first and recharge your energy. You must be outdoors.

It makes you stronger. Connect with nature. Take a walk on the beach, in a park, the woods, or alongside a river. It will help recapture your senses and gain a sense of peace in your hectic life. Connect with animals and drink in their unconditional love. Explore ways to enhance your Spiritual Source connection such as meditation, yoga, art, dance, poetry, hiking, and many more activities. Connect to likeminded people and find your tribe of supporters.

I hope these suggestions will jump-start you in developing a healthy, energetic foundation in your life as an empath. d

Sharron Ragan is a brand creativity consultant and intuitive change agent.

She’s a former corporate brand/marketing strategist having worked with many Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola and Wendy’s. As CEO of Visionary Business Worldwide, she applies her creative and intuitive spirit to inspire professionals to seek a purpose-driven life and career. www.

SharronRagan.com

CONSCIOUS RELATIONSHIPS The Ultimate Love: Twin Flames

by Kate Rose

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he idea of Twin Flames is ancient dating back to almost every single culture, but as society has undergone an accelerated spiritual awakening, the term has become more widely known and accepted.

The basic difference between a soul mate and a Twin Flame is that anyone in our lives could be a soul mate—including a parent, friend, child, or lover.

However the Twin Flame connection is only ever a romantic relationship.

The Twin Flame relationship is described as the division of a single source of energy that was placed into two different souls upon creation. These two souls are then reincarnated over the course of several lifetimes, gathering human experiences and learning, usually only coming together during one of their last lifetimes on Earth.

We currently are in a time period when many Twins are coming together for the betterment of the planet and the spiritual evolution of all who live here.

The reunion of the Twin Flames is the ultimate undefinable romantic connection of two souls, but this connection is far from easy, or simple. While many karmic relationships masquerade as Twin Flames, there are inherent differences that separate the Twin Flame from any other type of relationship.

One of the first signs that we have met our Twin Flame is the high level of understanding that we feel toward one another. We simply make sense to one another and, while we may sometimes wonder about one another’s choices, we simply understand their soul no matter what they do. Yet beyond that it’s the divine aspect of unconditional love and acceptance that feeds this connection, giving it strength to withstand and conquer even the most seemingly impossible of obstacles.

There is also a familiarity between Twin Flames that makes us feel like we have known each other forever. It is this quality that makes our connection timeless. It’s the feeling of looking into another’s eyes and seeing ourselves reflected back at us; most of us describe this as just an undefinable feeling, and that’s because there isn’t anything in life that can prepare us for the meeting of our Twin.

This isn’t a connection that will always make sense and it’s not going to follow any predetermined timeline, but it will shake us to our core.

Because every once in a while we meet someone—and from the very first meeting it feels like coming home.

This is what it feels like to be looking into the eyes of our Twin Flame yet it’s also terrifying and overwhelming at times because of its intensity.

At the very best it’s everything we’ve ever wanted and, at the worst, overwhelming because of its emotional depths. Many people often dismiss the Twin Flame connection because of the initial difficulty, but it is this hard beginning that truly defines the Twin Flame relationship.

Only our Twin Flame can hold up the mirror to all of the aspects of our lives where we are stuck and need to grow. The entire purpose of the Twin Flame experience is to challenge one another and wake each other up to be the best possible version of ourselves, but not everyone is ready to be awakened at the same time.

Not everyone is ready to dive to the depths of their soul, to see what lurks there and, sometimes, no matter how our hearts feel, in the end, it is sometimes easier to run away. Yet with Twins another major theme to this connection is that no matter how many times we part ways we always seem to find our way back to one another.

Time becomes irrelevant—because souls don’t understand the concept of months or years. We only understand the feeling of powerful eye contact and of the incredible soul shaking energy when our chakra points line up with another’s. It’s because of these intense physical responses that everything else just drops away when Twin Flames come into contact with one another.

The Twin Flame connection is a powerful life-changing force because of the deep spiritual and emotional connection that not only will change our lives and that of those around us, but truly has the capability of changing the world. d Kate Rose is an artist, lover, writer, yogi, and mother. She lives for adventure and wakes each morning with the excitement of a new day waiting to unfold at her feet. She believes the best is yet to come and waits, with bated breath, to see what it may hold. wordsofkaterose.com July/August 2018

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TECHNOLOGY/SCIENCE

THE UNKNOWN RUSSIAN REVOLUTION Has the Fountain of Youth Already Been Discovered?

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C O N S C I O U S

P E R S P E C T I V E S

by Dr. Nelson Bulmash

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n the early 1960s, the Russians experienced serious problems during the expansion of their military nuclear program.

The most significant issue was the leakage of radiation from the nuclear reactors used to power their submarines and military ships. This was particularly relevant for submariners, living in their vessels for weeks and months at a time.

While in this highly confined space, these men were exposed continuously to radiation, causing severe damage.

Radiation exposure of this nature almost always guarantees a “global” destruction of all cells in the human body. Untold numbers of men were harmed and died from this exposure.

Officials at the Kremlin demanded a solution. They knew they had to find an answer to this problem or risk damaging their status as a world military superpower.

It was vital to ensure the safety of their highly trained personnel by restoring the health of these soldiers. If left untreated, these men would struggle with the effects of radiation poisoning, many of them doomed to an inevitable decline in health, increased risk of cancer, and almost certain, premature death.

A young Russian lieutenant would be selected to lead the research team tasked with discovering a solution.

Vladimir Khavinson, MD, PhD, was charged with the nearly impossible mission of bringing many of his fellow soldiers back from a certain and horrible death. Dr. Khavinson’s research, which began in 1973, was kept classified for decades.

When finally released, his discoveries forever changed the world of anti-aging and functional medicine. He and fellow Russian scientists pioneered advances in medicine that were twenty to thirty years ahead of their American counterparts.

Dr. Khavinson’s research focused on the methods used to extract short-chain proteins, known as peptides. These protein fragments could be isolated, purified, and stabilized and then be either injected or taken orally. These highlyspecific peptides would lock into targeted receptor sites on chromosomes, triggering a sequence of reactions that led to cellular replication, repair, regeneration, and telomere lengthening.

In 2009 the world of anti-aging medicine finally felt the aftershocks of the scientific earthquake created decades earlier by Dr. Khavinson. That year, three candidates (Drs. Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak) were chosen as co-winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their discovery of how chromosomes are w w w.myconsciouslifejour nal.com

protected by telomeres (the caps on the end of chromosomes) and the enzyme telomerase.

But it was the discoveries of Dr. Khavinson and his team that had real-world application in this field.

Studies conducted by Dr. Khavinson and his team have shown that the use of two peptides, in particular— Endoluten (Pineal) and Vladonix (Thymus)—prove to be highly effective in lengthening telomeres. By doing so, human cells were given the ability to increase the number of times they could replicate, therefore increasing life expectancy.

The Russian scientists did not win a Nobel Prize for their discoveries, but they did bring information to the world that revolutionized health, science, and medicine.

One patient did a telomere test before using Russian peptides and found to her dissatisfaction that she fell in the 44th percentile for a female in her age category. Motivated by wanting to live a longer and better life, she began using Endoluten and Vladonix peptides. Eight and a half months later she repeated the test. This time her telomere length put her in the 89 percentile for her sex and age. The results were presented at the International Anti-Aging Summit in Geneva Switzerland earlier this year. Many scientists at the event spoke about the repercussions of these findings and how it would change functional medicine and aging.

Increasing telomere length was only one of many great discoveries made by the Russian scientists. They also developed ways to repair and regenerate tissues damaged by radiation exposure, trauma, disease, and even recovery from the stress of intense workouts.

In the U.S., an American doctor specializing in ophthalmology was forced to retire from his medical practice due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. Six months after beginning an advanced Russian peptide program, he came out of retirement and is again practicing full time.

Peptide technology is still not widely known in the United States. Russia kept its secret for more than fifty years and today is still far ahead. But the birth of this technology will open gateways in the future that will further revolutionize health care, functional medicine, and the antiaging movement. d Dr. Nelson D Bulmash is a chiropractor, naturopath, clinical nutritionist, speaker, writer, and developer of the bodywork system known as Torque Reset. He is known for his creative and novel approaches to helping patients recover from life’s health challenges. He is especially regarded for his chiropractic methods, use of Russian peptides, and Focus Unit protocols. http://health-matters.net/

WORLD VIEW

UNDERSTANDING THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS

by Sherri Danzig

T

he world is facing a water crisis and that ripple effect impacts us all. The term Water Poverty refers to the almost 700 million people around the globe without access to safe drinking water.

Though availability is not the same challenge in the US as other parts of the world, we face our own crisis ensuring our water supply is free from lead and numerous other contaminants.

The causes that led to the current crisis are manifold.

Climate changes are responsible for severe droughts and natural disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in 2017. The devastating effects of such catastrophes can last for decades, the water supply being largely destroyed or contaminated. Today, less than half the residents of Haiti have access to toilets.

Diminishing water supplies are evident at Lake Mead in Arizona and the Colorado River, the water source to 30 million people. This is due to drought conditions and another major contributor distressing the world’s water supply—pollution.

Globally, one of the largest polluters is farming. Nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers are washed from the soil and runoff into the nearby rivers and lakes. Second to farming is the industrial dumping of chemicals such as asbestos, lead, and mercury that are hard to clean up and impact both marine and human life.

Another contributor to the water crisis is the poor condition of the structures housing our above ground water supplies. It is estimated that billions of gallons of water are lost every day due to leaks throughout the water treatment structures in the US. In much of the world, fresh water is treated as if it is an endless resource. Scientists who track the levels of our aquifers, where about one-third of our fresh water is stored, report that the amount of water being pumped out for residential and industrial use is at a far greater rate than is being replenished. Over the last five decades, the world’s population has almost doubled, water consumption has quadrupled, and yet the water supply on the planet has remained about the same.

What can individuals and corporations do to address this crisis? Education and innovation are the keys to developing

solutions to save the water, our planet, and us. It begins with a focus on the importance of water that connects us to each other around the world. d HERE ARE SOME OF THE SOLUTIONS WE CAN SUBSCRIBE TO: • R ainwater harvesting, just as it sounds, collecting rain as it falls and then repurposing it, can offset water scarcity in drought-common areas to be used for drinking, bathing, and for industrial purposes such as crop irrigation. Recycling waste water will save billions of gallons each year.

• W ater conservation is necessary on both personal and industrial levels. Americans use, on average, 160 gallons each day while millions around the world live on less than three gallons each day. Turning the faucet off while you brush your teeth or scrub a pot will save almost four gallons. Corporations can shrink their water footprint by tracking their usage and then consulting with conservation experts and industry peers to learn how to improve their water efficiency.

• U pdate current systems with new innovations such as industrial leak monitors. This can identify the sources of leaks within the pipe systems. Install toilets with water conservation technology. Introduce eco-friendly shower systems that capture, store, and reuse water normally wasted while heating water for showering.

• S upport Clean Water Initiatives by volunteering time and money to expand future advancements. Help raise awareness by supporting the annual World Water Day on March 22.

• S top buying bottled water and instead use a filtration water bottle or carry water from a home filtration system.

Sherri Danzig’s wellness journey began twenty-five years ago. Her recovery from debilitating back pain using energy medicine inspired her founding of Wellness Resources International, whose mission is to empower others with natural and simple solutions for Self-Care. Sherri is a passionate speaker and trainer, in particular, on topics of sleep and hydration. www.sherridanzig.com/ July/August 2018

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LIFESTYLE

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TINY houses

Going

TINY

Uniquely Popular Long before Becoming Popular

by Jenna Spesard

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I

by John Kernohan

’m often asked, “What do you think the reason is why tiny homes have become so popular?” My response typically has been, “When have they not been popular?”

For hundreds of years, no, for thousands of years, tiny houses and micro homes have been popular throughout history and throughout the world.

A popular form of tiny homes, (Russian) yurts (aka, Mongolian Gers) have been utilized by the nomads of Mongolia for thousands of years, and today the longevity of their popularity can be seen on Love Yurts, which is in its second season on the

eople “go tiny” (or downsize into a Tiny Home) for a variety of reasons.

It’s a very personal journey. For many, moving into a small space offers financial freedom. Other motivations include lowering your carbon footprint, mobility, less maintenance, and a simpler life.

As a Tiny Houser, and someone who has interviewed hundreds of minimalists, I’ve found that the cost of a Tiny Home can be anywhere from $15K to $100K! I realize that’s a big spread, but budgets reflect personal preferences. My house, for example, cost $30K in materials to build. I think this is a rather typical budget for a DIY build.

Perhaps the biggest challenge of living small is sharing the space with someone else, although there are many Tiny Housers living with significant others and even children. The key to sharing a tiny space with someone else is to communicate and to be respectful. This, of course, is advice that translates to any size home, but with a Tiny House, it’s extremely important. Aggravations will quickly suck up all the air in 200 square feet. So talk it out or you’ll suffocate!

Living small may have its challenges, but there are also plenty of benefits. For example, I no longer indulge in compulsive purchasing, which has saved me a lot of money over the past four years. Training yourself to be satisfied with less stuff is a gift. My Tiny House has taught me to be thankful for what I have, and I’m happier for it. d

When Jenna Spesard is not living in her Tiny House, she’s backpacking around the world! She believes living small and traveling go hand in hand. She can travel so often because of her simple, affordable lifestyle. www. tinyhousegiantjourney.com July/August 2018

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DIY Network. For hundreds of

years, the beloved Native Americans of the Great Plains lived in portable homes known as the teepee (aka tipi and tepee).

Since the 1800s and earlier, shotgun homes/shacks in the South and small apartments throughout our country were and are a form of tiny living. If fact, today there are millions of people in the US living “tiny,” which means they are living in a space of 400 square feet or less. ( Just think about all the people in New York and other cities living in apartments under 100 square feet.)

The modern dome home appeared in 1940s; the book Shelter was published in 1973; Tiny, Tiny Houses was published in 1987; and in 1998 The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live first appeared in bookstores. And, of course, in 1999, Jay Shafer ushered in a new era of high quality, commercially built tiny houses on wheels.

Watermelon

RAW FOOD

by Brenda Cobb

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Yet a fact I cannot deny is that tiny houses and the tiny lifestyle have become extremely popular in mainstream media and in the general public’s eye over the course of the past six years. There are a multitude of television programs, YouTube videos, blogs, podcasts, books, and tiny house festivals specifically focused on tiny homes and the tiny lifestyle.

Financial institutions now offer loans for tiny homes; companies such as Foremost Insurance provide coverage for tiny houses; and more and more tinylifestyle communities are popping up around the world. You can even buy on the Internet and in the toy aisles at major retail stores your very own Johnny Quest die-cast collectible tiny house with a pickup truck.

Some believe a reason for the escalated interest in tiny houses over the past half-decade is due to the real estate and financial crash of 2008/2009. Many people were handed an opportunity at that time to reevaluate their lives, relationships, lifestyles, housing situations, and financials.

Others simply want to live on their own terms, in a house of their own design that they can afford sooner than later, and in a manner that brings them happiness.

The members of the modern tiny house movement are as uniquely different as the homes they live in. We make up a cornucopia of ages, genders, nationalities, religions, beliefs, financial statuses, and orientations. Whatever our individual reasons and motivations to go tiny might be, there is one common thread—the desire to live how we want, where we want, and in a home we want that is designed specifically for our individual lifestyle needs. In other words, we share a common and conscious decision to own our lives, instead of life owning us. d John Kernohan is founder of the United Tiny House Association. He and his wife, Fin, have lived six and a half years off-grid in their 304 square foot Beloved Cabin and in their 148 square foot Tiny Firehouse on wheels. They and their board have organized eight tiny house events, including the world’s third-largest. You can see them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. www.unitedtinyhouse.com

atermelon originated in desert areas of tropical and sub-tropical Africa. The one great advantage of this fruit, which encouraged its spread to lands around the Mediterranean and eastward into Asia, was its 90 percent water content. This made watermelon a valuable source of drinking water in desert areas and an especially useful source of potable liquid where water supplies were polluted.

There are more than fifty varieties of watermelon in various shapes, colors, and sizes, which are generally divided into “picnic” and “icebox” varieties. Picnic types are larger, usually weighing fifteen to fifty pounds; icebox varieties, designed to fit into a refrigerator, weigh between five and fifteen pounds.

Most watermelons have the familiar red flesh, but there are also orange and yellow fleshed varieties, as well as some that are seedless. Few people can agree on just how to pick a ripe watermelon. Some say that it should have a skin that is dull and slightly waxy, with ends that are not pointy but rounded and well filled out, heavy for its size, with a bottom that is pale creamy yellow and not white. Others swear by the thumping method, looking for a deep hollow sound rather than a dull thud. When the melon is cut, your job is much easier. The best ones have bright red flesh with dark brown or black seeds.

Watermelon is used as a cooling food in hot weather, for treatment of thirst, and as a pick-me-up. Its high quality water content is an excellent cleanser and detoxifier for the whole body and has the greatest dissolving power of inorganic minerals in the body of all the fruits and vegetables.

Surprisingly, it has only half the sugar, 5 percent, of an apple, but tastes much sweeter because sugar is its main taste-producing element.

It is one of nature’s safest and most dependable diuretics and has a remarkable ability to quickly and completely wash out the bladder. The white rind of the watermelon is one of the highest organic sodium foods in nature and the outside peel is one of the best sources of chlorophyll.

A good way to get all the goodness of the watermelon flesh, rind, and seeds is to put large chunks of watermelon in the Vita-Mix or other high speed blender and blend it together until all the seeds are pulverized and blended with the flesh and white rind. This makes an absolutely delicious cooling smoothie that is a delight to consume. Or, brighten your day with this yummy watermelon salad.

Watermelon Cucumber Salad

2 cups cucumber 2 cups watermelon 1/2 cup sweet onion 1/2 cup fresh mint 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon olive oil Pinch Himalayan salt Pinch pepper Chop the cucumber, watermelon, onion, and mint. Combine with the lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss together.

Brenda Cobb, founder of Living Foods Institute, author of The Living Foods Lifestyle®, and featured on documentaries “Healing Cancer Inside Out” and “Eating,” has an Honorary Cultural Doctorate in Therapeutic Philosophy and the Phoenix Award honoring her work. She personally healed breast and cervical cancer without surgery, chemo, or radiation. http://livingfoodsinstitute.com July/August 2018

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CONSCIOUS 360° Hope Merrill | Founder, Conscious 360°

CONSCIOUS 360°

The Conscious 360° model is used as our

foundation to organize the wisdom and guidance in the Conscious Life Journal. Following the 5 stages of healing— Mind, Body, Spirit, Integration, and Balance—our goal is to provide you with rich information about your journey to a higher state of consciousness.

What does Conscious 360° really mean? Simply put, it is a way to understand your healing and a process that helps you know where you are on your path to a higher consciousness.

STAGE 1 | MIND—Discover Who You Are STAGE 2 | BODY—Accept Who You Are STAGE 3 | SPIRIT—Connect to Who You Are STAGE 4 | INTEGRATION—Practice Who You Are

CONSCIOUS 360 QUESTIONS

STAGE 5 BALANCE—Actively BE Who You Are

Q: A:

Dear Hope:

I’ve been actively working on myself for over a year now, in order to have the courage to act and resolve a particular situation in my life. And today, suddenly, it just resolved itself! How did that happen?

Dear Jennifer:

Congratulations! When we are balanced and living in harmony with ourselves, our outer world will also come into harmony. Remember, it is all vibration because we are made up of energy. Harmonious vibration within ourselves will lead to those who no longer vibrate in harmony with us to either change and adjust their vibration or choose to no longer interact with us. When you actively “be” instead of “do,” then you have found “balance” where inspired action and true change is possible.

Since we heal in spirals, you can't really apply a time line to Conscious 360. You will move through each stage in order, several times, both in your life and within each situation in your life.

What is important, and why Conscious 360° works, is it aids us in knowing the stage we are in, what we need to do in that stage, and how to move to the next stage. A touchstone or, if you will, a guide map for when we get in the “soup” of personal transformation and are overwhelmed or stuck.

With Conscious 360° you just find the stage you are in, do the work inside that stage, and you WILL move to the next stage and ultimately to peace and balance.

As you use Conscious 360° you will find your transformational healing easier to understand, quicker to move through, and feel more supported in your growth.

This section of the Journal explores each stage, with articles and guidance that are helpful inside each stage.

Learn from these articles, apply them to your daily life, study the stages of Conscious 360°, and TRANSFORM!

STAGE 5 | BALANCE

Experience Freedom

In this Stage we learn to live harmoniously with ourselves and experience joy and freedom. We can now put power and action behind our choices and have the freedom to do what feels right to us—live our passion, enjoy our soul mate, and love ourselves relentlessly! Laugh, play, be silent, be loud, be YOU!

Need help using Conscious 360°? Contact Hope for a private session. Or submit your question for a future issue of the Journal. hope@myconsciouslifejournal.com

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THE GREATEST SECRET ON EARTH from The Secret of Letting Go

by Guy Finley

STAGE 1

MIND

T

he truth is that letting go is very simple and, above all, natural—as natural for you and me as it is for a tree to shed the heavy, sun-ripened fruit that clings to its branches. Why? Because both man and tree, in fact, all living things, are created to drop what is no longer needed. For the tree, the falling fruit carries its matured seed to the ground.

No unnatural force is necessary. In a similar fashion—that is to say, under higher but equally exacting laws—these same friendly forces are waiting to do for you what you haven’t been able to do for yourself. You need only learn to cooperate with these powerful and timeless principles to be able to let go of any emotional bitterness, relentless regret, anxious worry or troubling thought. The rest will be done for you.

This is what the secret of letting go is all about. First must come the understanding that we are still carrying around the accumulated defeats of a lifetime, and that these weary weights have only served to make us someone sorry, not someone special. This initial shock may shake us, but it is really a major breakthrough. It heralds the first in a series of miraculous self-separations in which we begin to see that we have been living from an unseen part of ourselves—a self that thinks clinging to wreckage is the same as being rescued!

Now we understand why all of our past efforts to let go have only left us holding a new problem. But now we also know, at last, exactly what it is that must be dropped. We must let go of this sorry self that is certain it is better to suffer and feel like someone than it is to just let go and quietly be no

one. Have no concerns how this task will be accomplished.

That is Reality’s responsibility.

This higher knowledge that is now beginning to reveal you to yourself is not mental. It is coming to you from a lofty, wise, and powerful part of yourself which lives way above everyday thinking and its ceaseless conflict over what may or may not be best.

Your newly awakening inner-nature knows what is best for you because it sees life without the painful confusion and contradictions that always accompany compulsive self-interest.

For instance, this higher intelligence knows that you don’t need to ache even when you are sure you must. Once you have made contact with the still secret self within, it does the rest.

That’s right. It is this higher part of yourself alone that has the strength and wisdom to gently open your hand, so that out of it may drop all that has been making you unhappy.

Believe me, you are on the verge of the single greatest discovery any human being can make. The secret of letting go not only holds the keys for ending what is unwanted, but locked within this same supreme secret is the beginning of your New Life—the birth of a new nature that never has to hold on to anything because it is already everything. d Guy Finley is the best-selling author of more than 40 books and audio albums on self-realization. He is the founder and director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for self-study in Merlin, Oregon.

Visit www.guyfinley.org to receive your free Starter Kit and access to the Wisdom Library. For reprint: The Secret of Letting Go, by Guy Finley, Llewellyn Publications, Rev. Exp. edition, 2007.

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FINDING BALANCE THROUGH YOGA

STAGE 2

CONSCIOUS 360°

BODY

by Steven Weiss, DC, C-IAYT

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n classical depictions and a common Sanskrit root, yoga and the harness that yokes two oxen to an ox cart are analogous. One ox portrays the body while the other symbolizes the mind. Sharing a life of constant awareness and communication with each other, they acknowledge each other’s strengths and weaknesses and realize that either one overpowering the other undermines their very existence.

The driver of the cart represents Spirit. When body and mind act in harmony and find integration, even amidst everyday drudgery, Spirit can remain at peace and benevolent.

The ancient yogic texts, known as Raja Yoga, cite a set of self-disciplines and life skills that can guide the human journey. Their tenets apply, not only to how we live in the world but also with how we inhabit our minds and bodies. We can find acceptance and peace through these principles while making our yoga practice the venue from where we find self-acceptance and the potential to heal our physical challenges.

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Raja Yoga asks us to question: do we steal and exploit the flexibility or strength from one region of the body to compensate for another? For example, do we allow the more flexible shoulders to initiate and claim successful accomplishment of a pose when we barely engage the mobility of the upper back? Is our goal in yoga practice egodriven, focused on the outer appearance of poses? Do our choices cause injury or do they heal? Is truth and wisdom practiced, not only in relation to others, but also in how we inhabit our bodies?

The physical practice of yoga must embrace a state of dissolution to enable the student to truly grow and become liberated. Postural habits are challenged, belief systems are confronted, and the physical body must surrender to grit and effort. As with a natural forest fire, the annihilating flames are essential to remove old wood and allow new sprouts to take root. This process is what yoga practice offers the body and mind and the liberation of Spiritual growth.

We are often unaware of what honors the body and what does not. Studying yoga can illuminate the difference.

Yoga is a celebration of the body and its integration with the mind. Practicing yoga with Zen-like precision—called Tapas— increases our health and well-being. Spirit will respond in kind, finding Santosa, a state of deep contentment and gratitude for being alive.

Yoga practice is our teacher, informing us in our potential—in every moment, in each day, and throughout our lifetime. d Steven Weiss, DC, C-IAYT is a holistic chiropractor and certified yoga therapist. He teaches in the United States and internationally. Dr. Weiss is author of The Injury-Free Yoga Practice, Integrative Alignment Yoga Therapy Manual, and the upcoming Yoga Alignment: Principles and Practice. Visit Injuryfreeyogapractice. com for additional information.

call 404.252.7550

Higher Brain Living™ at

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intro events and special discounts every month Leslie Clayton

Core Strength | Flexibility | Uplifted Posture | Mental Clarity

Body Awareness Studio is dedicated to balancing your body, mind and soul with customized private and group Pilates sessions. We uniquely combine Pilates and body awareness to dramatically enhance your brain and body communication for more embodied joy, ease and freedom in every area of your life. Contact us for special discounts! www.bodyawarenessstudio.com • Book your appointment today! • BodyAwarenessStudio@gmail.com

Holistic Healing teaches you how to communicate with your body, awaken you to the doctor within, and return you to health and wholeness. It is a complement to conventional medicine that will activate your body’s natural ability to heal itself.

“Your body has everything it needs to heal, you just need to learn how to listen.”

~Mindy Strich

Dr. Rankin Certified Instructor | Mindy Strich www.mindystrich.com | (678) 642-7771

July/August 2018

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WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE

STAGE 3

SPIRIT

I

remember a period of time, many years of mind that is unconditional and spiritual ago, when all I could think about was how in nature. Even though we are not flawless, severely I had been bullied by a group of we are worthy of being loved, because life, neighborhood teens. I wanted revenge for all the itself, is sacred. Through self-acceptance times they demeaned and shamed me. we understand how to accept others. This is what forgiveness is all about.

As the years passed I continued to harbor resentment. I knew I needed to make some Dr. Nathaniel Branden’s book The Six Pillars

by Leona Evans important life changes and was drawn to New of Self-Esteem and other spiritual teachings offer Thought teachings because of their inclusiveness the following powerful healing practices: and positive approach to spirituality. My goal was to under• Self-observation and other mindfulness exercises stand how to forgive and heal my self-defeating habit patterns.

Forgiveness is our ability to make peace with what we • Visualizing the Healing Light of Spirit enveloping really wanted but didn’t get from others. This ranges from those whose behavior challenges you not getting the love we wanted as children to being abused, cheated, lied to, or oppressed as adults.

• Avoiding perfectionistic behaviors that create false My healing process began with the question, “What did expectations of yourself and others I want from the neighborhood bullies that I didn’t get?”

After much reflection I was shocked to discover it was their • Learning how to evaluate without placing blame approval. I had been conditioned to believe that without the approval of others I was somehow inferior. This was clearly • Becoming conscious of transforming anger into more a no-win situation. Since I couldn’t get the bullies’ approval, I positive expressions of energy could never feel better about myself. No wonder I was angry!

Moving from a habitual cycle of unresolved frustration to These days a burden has been lifted from my life. I feel a place of inner peace begins by understanding that we are more benevolent toward myself because I know I am loved more valuable than the way others have defined us. We are unconditionally. In addition, I can allow others to disapprove stronger and more lovable than our past experiences even of me without feeling personally diminished. The path of though we didn’t always get what we wanted. forgiveness begins and ends with me. d Our ability to forgive, then, is only as strong as our level of self-acceptance. When we no longer depend on others to Leona Evans is an ordained Unity minister, radio broadcaster, and peace determine our worth we become free to accept ourselves. activist. She is the author of the award-winning book The Evolving Peacemaker: A Genuine self-acceptance is a nonviolent, noncompetitive state Commitment to Nonviolence. You can reach her at cjk@msn.com 34

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KEEPING THE BODY IN BALANCE

Healing With

Essential Oils

by Angila Reid

STAGE 4 INTEGRATION

Peppermint

P

Invigorate your Senses!

eppermint (Mentha Piperita) is a hybrid of mint and spearmint. The main chemical components are menthol, menthone, and eucalyptol. Peppermint essential oil is steam distilled from the leaves and stems of the plant. It is grown worldwide and has been cultivated for centuries by many different cultures.

by Leslie Clayton

“Hello, how are you?” is

illness? Either way, you get to make new choices for your health and your body anytime you choose. So, take responsibility early. Don’t wait until things are breaking down.

Get ahead of the game and look at what’s working well in your body. Congratulate yourself for taking good care of yourself and then say “hello” to the parts of your body that need some help.

Drop deep into your body and let the soulful answers emerge from inside. Trust the messages you find there. Your lifelong companion, your body, loves the attention.

For a well-rounded physical fitness program choose at least one from each category. Have fun! d Playful Sports and Activities Use your whole body: walking, hiking, jogging, running, bicycling, swimming, dancing, tennis, golf, volley ball, skiing, rowing, surfing, etc.

Mindful Core-centered Exercises with Resistance Consciously stretch and strengthen your arms, legs and torso: Pilates, yoga, weight training, resistance stretching, TRX, Bodhi Suspension System, Qigong, Tai chi.

Release and Relaxation Exercises Using conscious breathing: Pilates, Yoga, Feldenkrais method, foam roller, Melt, Qigong, meditation.

Leslie Clayton founded the Body Awareness Pilates studio in 1993. Balanced Body Education Master Instructor, Advanced Higher Brain Living facilitator, Natural Rhythms and Heart IQ coach. Guiding others to feel more connected, alive, and free. http://bodyawarenessstudio.com/

TOP USES Alertness/endurance: Three to four drops on the shower floor to help invigorate the senses. Inhale the aroma while driving to help stay alert.

Seasonal threats: Add two drops with two drops each of lavender and lemon to five milliliters of fractionated coconut oil for an effective seasonal threat relief.

Cooling: Two drops in a bowl of cool water. Moisten a cloth and apply to the forehead, the back of neck, and the bottom of the feet. This is a great hot flash application.

Head tension: Apply one drop to the base of the skull, the forehead, and the temples.

Nausea: Inhale from the bottle and/or apply one drop to the abdomen.

Congestion: Use in the shower as described above.

Apply one drop to the chest.

Bug repellant: Add ten drops to a four-ounce spray bottle filled with Witch Hazel.

Negative motions addressed: Pain, despair, heavy-heartedness and pessimism.

You can add three to four drops in a diffuser, or add one drop in four fluid ounces of liquid (water, hot cocoa or coffee). Peppermint essential oil can also be a tasty addition to baked goods and candies. Add one drop to your favorite smoothie recipe for a refreshing twist. d Cautions: Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If pregnant, nursing, or under doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas.

Andi Sells Photography

something you might say to a good friend or acquaintance to open a conversation or build rapport.

Hopefully you care about the answer and openheartedly respond.

If that friend is feeling low or ill in some way and you have the capacity to help out, you offer your support.

Do you bring the same compassionate heart to your own body?

Your body is a gift and the sacred home for your soul. The way you care for your body is directly related to the care you give your soul. Both body and soul need clean water, fresh air, good nutrition, exercise, and lots of love.

You are the one responsible for the maintenance and health of your body. It’s no longer your parent’s job.

You can see and feel how your body responds to your daily actions and the environment you live in. So make your choices around food, drink, bedtime, awareness of breath, and exercise with more consciousness.

Every thought you think affects the health of your cells by way of the sophisticated body intelligence that is moving inside you all the time. Thinking loving thoughts about yourself and your body while you’re eating, breathing, exercising, or just being with yourself and others will lower your stress levels and boost your immune system. As you become more conscious of how your daily actions, including the way you think about yourself, affect your body, it’s easier to identify which actions are not giving you what you really want. Only you can choose what you really want for your body.

If you’re not manifesting the body that you really want, can you lovingly accept your current body size and shape and current status of health or

Emotionally, peppermint is a head opening and cleansing oil. It creates movement of energy and brings the joy of being alive. It helps resolve feelings of frustration and irritability and helps with clarity.

The power of peppermint oil can be felt most in times of discouragement or despair. It aids individuals who feel they simply “need a breather.”

Angila Reid is a Wellness Advocate and Educator with dōTERRA International, a Cer tified Reflexologist, and received her CNHP from Trinity School of Natural Health.

Angi lives in Lawrenceville, GA with her husband of over twenty-five years, and her fur babies Mork and Mindy.

Angi’s passion is helping others while educating them on alternative natural remedies. my.doterra.com/feetloveoils feetloveoils@gmail.com 770-356-4443

WHAT IT REALLY TAKES TO LIVE IN CONSCIOUS BALANCE

STAGE 5

BALANCE

by Lisa Barnett

I

once heard someone say, “There’s no such thing as balance. There is only moving toward balance or moving away from balance.” I’d always been taught that balance was the reward for the work, a state of bliss where all is right in the world. The truth is that Conscious balance is the ability to live and thrive in all of it.

When faced with something that makes us feel “bad,” we say we want to find balance when all we really want is to feel better. But the Akashic Records teach us that everything has a purpose. It

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can be difficult to see in the moment how circumstances or relationships that create suffering help us, but when we are aware, we see we’ve been given an opportunity to better know our true selves.

We understand that what we sometimes label as negative is an essential part of balance. As spiritual teacher Gary Zukav once said, “Suffering can be endured because there is a reason for it that is worth the effort. What is more worthy of your pain than the evolution of your soul?”

True freedom and happiness come from the ability to live in the place where you’re aware that the journey includes everything. There are two keys to discovering and remaining in conscious balance. The first is spiritual exercise and the second is to become an emotional dissonance ninja.

Like training for a marathon, spiritual exercise—prayer, studying a path to which you feel connected, meditation—helps build endurance for the times when suffering is required. You wouldn’t expect to change your body without feeling the burn or being exhausted at times. Why would you think you could remove the detritus that covers your soul without some emotional cramping? Regular spiritual exercise prepares you to handle the chaos and move through any storm with the least damage possible.

In addition to spiritual exercise, you must become practiced in the art of emotional dissonance. It is possible to feel both happy and sad simultaneously, but we’re not taught that. As children, we’re instructed to choose one or the other and we typically select the one that comes with the biggest reward.

What if, as a kid, you’d been encouraged to feel sad that you weren’t invited to a birthday party AND to feel happy that, instead, you got to go to the zoo with your dad? Most of us believed a trip to the zoo was a balm for the pain and disappointment, not something to feel joyful about. Imagine how differently you would see the world if, instead of closing off the part that felt “bad,” you’d learned to accept all of it.

The next time you find yourself searching for a way out of feeling bad, ask yourself if it’s possible to feel both. Can you be delighted you’ve discovered a hobby you love and upset that you need to replace the car battery at the same time? What if you could simultaneously be disappointed that your child got a D in math and thrilled that you received a promotion? It requires practice but is an essential piece of living in conscious balance.

Even if you become proficient at spiritual exercise and skilled at emotional dissonance, you’re going to forget what you’ve learned sometimes. That is a different kind of suffering and one designed to remind you of the power you actually have to make things different.

The more you practice the more familiar you’ll become with how it feels different so you can quickly find your way back to conscious balance. d Lisa Barnett has empowered individuals to find greater fulfillment, happiness, and abundance for over twenty-five years. She is an international best-selling author and the founder of the Akashic Knowing School of Wisdom, where she teaches students around the world to access personal soul wisdom and Akashic guidance to support their lives. www.AkashicKnowing.com

B

LK

U

L E B TA B with Burge Smith-Lyons

A Balanced

Perspective H

ow many times have you reacted to a situation and created “foot in mouth” disease? Having a reactive perspective can get you into trouble.

An alternative to reacting is being responsive to a situation. If you breathe ten times before you say or act on something, you dissipate your reactive fleeting moment and come from a more balanced perspective.

This practice takes practice! If you have the courage to tell your truth with compassion, even though you may have doubts, you can take inspired action. Taking inspired action comes from your center and to be in your center you need to be balanced. Instead of laying blame, shaming yourself, or making excuses with your communication or actions, take responsibility.

Your ability to respond determines the quality of your life. It is freedom to choose to communicate from the place of owning your thoughts, beliefs, and actions. It takes courage to stand in your power and hold your integrity when you are faced with adversity. Many people may trigger you and pull you off your center; however, it takes courage to be authentic and true to yourself.

Courage equals commitment plus doubt plus action. The word courage comes from the French word “le coeur”—the heart. If you can stop and breathe and commit to telling your truth, even though you may want to lash out and have doubts whether people hear you or understand you, you can take inspired action with ease and balance.

Some people define balance as “what goes in goes out equally.” To have balance for some is to have balance in your mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of self. You may feel balance is walking a tight rope and you could fall off anytime. No matter your definition, balance could be giving yourself the gift of responding in a compassionate way to yourself and others.

A great tool to use is a pattern interrupt. When you find yourself getting more and more reactive with someone, stop and say a funny phrase or word that you both agree on. At that point you both stop talking, go to your corners, breathe ten times slowly, and then come back.

The person who called the funny word starts first and says, “What I feel like saying is . . .” The other person just listens with no interruptions. Then the other person says what they want to say without interruptions. This way your communication is heard and your energy is dissipated and you can be balanced.

Remember, breathe and be kind to yourself from all levels.f

Burge Smith-Lyons is an international best-selling author, motivational speaker, intuitive healer, certified rebirther, hypnotherapist, channeler, minister, and founder and CEO of The Essence of Being, Inc. For thirty-six years she has helped thousands of graduates globally with emotional and spiritual healing, better communication techniques, relationships, prosperity consciousness, and enlightened leadership. www.Burgesmithlyons.com www.essenceofbeing.com

Essence of Being is a series of experiential development programs for adults, families and children which specialize in helping you identify what “Bubble Talk” or subconscious negative belief systems you may have that block you from achieving more of what you want on an emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical level for business and personal life.

If you want more abundance, self-esteem, trust, love, peace, and purpose in your life, join the thousands of people around the world since 1993 to unlock your inner codes for better communication, loving relationships, and wealth.

ESSENCE OF BEING July 20-22/Atlanta July 27-29/Ft. Lauderdale

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“As a Transformational Life Coach myself I am not easily impressed. Burge and the Essence of Being workshop blew me away.

I had thought I had done all the work, but this course helped me peel yet another layer off; allowing me to touch into the most vulnerable places with fearlessness and grace. Essence of Being is the most creative, unique, and life changing workshop I have ever taken."

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July/August 2018

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R E F L E C T I O N S Or iginal Poetr y and Musings

The Morning Arises

by Michael Burke

I’m awakened to another morning Graced from slumber By the beautiful whispers Of the dawning Divine Another day Gifted with breath To share love, light, and peace The morning song of feathered frequency Scatters about my ears Soothes the silia Through the sound of winged majesty

The harbinger of Harmony In the harbor of my cerebrospinal waters Washing wisdom upon my shores Serenading the sand of time in fluid fascination Visceral verisimilitudes Birds, like fish in the air, Swim into silent flight And I drown into life Swallowing my beloved In waves of wonder

The poetry of nature needs no words It sings in syllables of serendipity

The flight of wind Caresses my substance In the blossoming of light

I am under, over, above, and beyond Not only In the flow I Am the flow

Hearing within the silence Singing within the song A choir of chlorophyll With a photosynthetic chorus

I no longer arise in the morning

No longer do I strive to awake I am constantly being awakened

The morning arises in me.

Michael Murphy Burke, Poet, Craftsman, Sound Artist. Born in New Orleans, Resides in Alpharetta, Georgia. Published Dancing with the Divine in 2017. Hosts Open Mic Poetry Night at Phoenix and Dragon. Creatures Sound Journeys/Sonic Massages every month in Roswell, Georgia @ Sacred Mother, Open Mind Center & Luna by Liz. https://michaelmurphyburke.com/ July/August 2018

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