OMTimes Magazine February B 2018 Edition

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February B 2018

Cover Story

Metaphysics

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Linda Joy - Sacred Visibility

The Power of the Infinity Symbol We Are All Connected

Health & Wellness

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36

Personal Growth

40 44

Are You At Risk For Autoimmune Disease?

Using Energetic Techniques for Emotional Detoxing Understanding The Different Types of Integrative Medicine

Spirituality 50

The Real Meaning of Theism

OM Living 58 62 68

The Truth (and Untruth) about Mindfulness Feng Shui and Transgenderism Escalate Your Career as an Entrepreneur

Relationships 76 82

How To Survive Being Single On Valentine's Day 7 Steps to Help You Forget an Impossible Love

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Getting Ahead by Doing Less 102 When Problems Persist. Are You Making Bad Choices?

106 3 Simple Exercises to Invite the Extraordinary Life

World Vision 118 Bringing Forth The Best In Our World

Books 118 SHINE!

VISIBILITY

™

How Healing Your Fears Helps You Shine Your Light

BY LINDA JOY WITH DEBORAH KEVIN

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ou’re being called to shine your light and transform the world with your sacred gifts.

It’s time to heed the call. As a heart-centered, mission-driven female entrepreneur, coach, author, therapist, or healer you are being called to embrace your fear of visibility so you can shine your light, attract your aligned clients, and create transformation in the lives of those you are here to serve.

Now more than ever, the world needs us.

“IT IS OUR LIGHT, NOT OUR DARKNESS THAT FRIGHTENS US.” – Marianne Williamson This excerpt from one of my favorite Marianne Williamson quotes says it all, “It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.” This rings true for my journey as an entrepreneur and with my private clients and authors.

Many entrepreneurs—and I’ve been there— are afraid to be SEEN! They are afraid to be VULNERABLE! They are afraid to be AUTHENTIC! They are afraid to SHINE! As I’m sure you’ve discovered, you can’t create transformation in the lives of those you’re called to serve if you keep your brand, your offerings, and your sacred message in the shadows—and if you keep your authentic self, sacred energy, and intent separate from your heart-centered brand.

It’s Time to Embrace Your Fears of Visibility Courageously As uncomfortable as it can be, we each need to do the deep inner work to heal the stories, wounds, and false beliefs that keep us from stepping fully into Sacred Visibility™ with our message.

As the Bestselling Publisher and Visibility Catalyst for a sacred community of heartcentered female entrepreneurs, I am

blessed to serve the most extraordinary private visibility and marketing clients in the personal development genre—from emerging entrepreneurs to six-and-seven figure business owners. These visionaries continue to amaze and inspire me by their dedication to embracing their fears courageously, and continually stretching themselves by stepping into a more visible role in their business—even when it’s uncomfortable.

It has been through my work with these courageous souls over the last six years, as well as the two-hundred-plus female authors that I’ve published through the Inspired Living Publishing sacred anthology division, that I discovered the stories, wounds, and false beliefs that arise when entrepreneurs step into an expanded level of visibility— what I define as Sacred Visibility™.

What is Sacred Visibility™?

Sacred Visibility™

is the merging of your authentic voice, soul’s essence, vulnerability, and intention into your business and messaging, and into all of the physical manifestations of your visibility endeavors (blogging, writing speaking, etc.).

Sacred Visibility™

asks that you bring your full essence into all that you do. It lovingly requires, and gently nudges, you to show up fully in your business, projects, and relationships by embracing your spiritual truth and trusting that you are here to shine and illuminate the path for others—even when you can’t see the full path ahead of you. ™ When you step into Sacred Visibility, you commit to no longer hiding, no longer playing small, and no longer allowing your inner chatter to run the show.

The Ritual that Brought My Fears to Light I’d like to share a recent experience that highlights how the layers of visibility fears arise no matter how long you’ve been doing the ‘work’ or how visible others perceive your brand and message.

Back in October, I was on my favorite Cape Cod beach, holding my annual birthday ritual, one I’ve done for over 25 years. This recent birthday was a special one—I turned 55!

Sitting by the ocean, I began as I always do by giving thanks for the blessings, people, and lessons that the past year brought me.

I don’t know about you, but I love basking in the energy of gratitude! Once that part of the ritual felt complete, I moved on to the deeper shadow work.

Diving into the Shadows in Order to Shine Brighter As I sat wrapped in blankets, enjoying the cool breeze on my face, I set an intention and began to journal. I asked sacred soul questions related to my role as an entrepreneur because I wanted to tap into my soul and listen to my heart. I dove in.

These questions have empowered and supported me in hearing on a soul level what I am meant to create, birth, transform, and shift in my business.

It was deep, yummy, soul-inspiring and belief-shifting work that led me to dive into the

“WHAT APPEARS ON THE OUTSIDE DOESN’T MATTER. IT’S WHAT YOUR SOUL KNOWS TO BE TRUE THAT MATTERS. AND MY SOUL KNEW I HAD BEEN HIDING!” shadows and illuminate in my mission-driven business the areas I haven’t been showing up fully. This liberating process pushed boundaries. After years of performing this ritual, I’ve learned to trust what rises in the questioning process. (You’ll find a portion of my 2-Step Sacred Visibility™ Journal Process later in the article.)

What Came Up Surprised Me and Many Others!

I was called to face the truth that I was hiding behind my brands! Yes, ME, the visibility catalyst.

ME, the coach and mentor, who has supported hundreds of women in owning their message, growing their platform, and shining their light. I realized that day that I had been playing small in numerous ways, and I’d intuitively known it for quite a while. I knew that time was over.

If you know of one or more of my highlyvisible brands, including the beloved twelveyear-old Aspire Magazine, you, like many of my peers, clients, and mastermind partners, may be asking:

How Can You Feel Like You’ve Been Hiding? You’re Everywhere!

You have five thriving brands, have created a thriving six-figure business, host a popular radio show, have produced eight highly-successful summits, have published eight bestselling books, work privately with the most extraordinary heart-centered entrepreneurs, and have attracted a loyal community of 46,000 women.

How can YOU think you’re playing small?

Here’s the sacred message that came through during my deep dive when I asked myself that same question. What I heard resonated on such a deep level that I instantly knew it was my soul’s truth. The message I heard was:

to be featured on the cover of this sacred magazine. Yes, it triggered all the same visibility fears that my clients face, but I used the processes I share her to embrace them and move forward because my dedication to my mission is more powerful than my fears.

How About You? Are You Ready to Step into Sacred Visibility™?

The first step is awareness to heal the wounds, triggers, and mindset blocks keeping you from stepping fully into a more visible role in your business. In the next section, I share a portion of my 2-part Sacred Visibility™ Journaling Process. I encourage you to set aside some sacred time as I did to do a deep dive into the layers of fears that may be unconsciously sabotaging your business and holding you back from being visible.

“What appears on the outside doesn’t matter. It’s what your soul knows to be true that matters. And my soul knew I had been hiding!”

That day, my soul or inner wisdom, let me know that I wasn’t showing up with my full light in my business, and it didn’t matter how visible others perceived my brands to be if my soul knew otherwise.

Five weeks later, after seeing a vulnerable video I recorded I received the invitation

Think of this journaling process as a conversation with your sacred truth. Light a candle, grab your favorite journal, and set an intention to be honest with yourself. It’s time for you to stop hiding your brilliance because your clients are waiting for you.

Step 1: FACE THE FEARS. 1

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BRING THEM TO LIGHT.

What sabotaging fears, habits, or mindsets are currently preventing me from growing my business? (Answer from your divine truth, not your logical mind.)

What are my fears about enhancing my visibility on an even larger platform? (Get real and go deep. The fears are there.

Everyone has them. Awareness is the first step to healing them.)

What emotional ‘benefits’ am I gaining by allowing these fears to direct my business decisions? (When you find yourself in a pattern it’s usually because a subconscious wound or script is running the show.)

I am afraid to be visible because___________. Write and complete this prompt over and over again because there are usually many reasons covering up the MAIN reason.

Every time you jot down another reason ask yourself, “And what else?” I’ve found this to be a powerful soul prompt.

Affirmation:

My desire to serve is stronger than my fear of being visible.

Step 2: SHIFT THE FEARS. ENVISION SUCCESS.

Now that you’ve brought your fears to light, it’s time to do the inner work to shift them. This is an ongoing process, one that I continue to use.

What would success look like if I released these false fears and outdated mindsets and stepped into my power? (Dream big. Dream from your soul’s truth and not your ego’s fears.)

How would I step into increased visibility if I wasn’t allowing these fears to sabotage my decisions and goals? (Go into great detail with this question. How would you show up differently?)

In detail, describe one or more times that you stepped through your business fears and experienced extraordinary results. (You’ve done this more times than you give yourself credit for. It’s time to remind yourself of your courage and what’s waiting for you on the other side of your fears.)

What message does my soul, or inner wisdom, have to share with me in support of me breaking through my fears of visibility so I can create a successful business?

AFFIRMATION: MY DESIRE TO SERVE IS STRONGER THAN MY FEAR OF BEING VISIBLE.

I hope the exercise above helped you illuminate the fears that may be sabotaging your success and keeping you from stepping into your role as a leader.

My wish for you is that you choose to own your sacred gifts, show up fully in your message, and shine, shine, shine!

As a heart-centered, mission-driven entrepreneur since 1992, Linda Joy has been embracing her superpowers, kicking fear to the curb, and honoring her inner wisdom to create a life, and businesses, that reflect her truth and inspires other female entrepreneurs to do the same.

Linda knows first-hand what it takes to transform fear into trust and self-doubt into inspired action—she does it every day—and supports her private marketing and visibility clients and authors in doing the same.

Through her multimedia publishing and visibility packages, programs, and offerings Linda supports heart-centered female coaches, therapists, and entrepreneurs in rocking their online visibility, attracting their aligned audiences, and marketing their businesses with love, authenticity, and integrity.

Through her multiple inspirational multimedia brands, including Aspire Magazine, Inspired Living Publishing, Inspired Living Giveaway, Inspired Conversations Radio Show, and Inspired Living Secrets, Linda’s message of love, feminine wisdom, and self-empowerment is embraced by over 46,000 subscribers and 29,000 social media followers.

Learn more at www.Linda-Joy.com.

Deborah Kevin loves helping heart-centered, service-minded entrepreneurs attract their ideal clients and grow their businesses by creating and implementing a compelling blog strategy as the keystone to their marketing plans. Debby is an associate editor with Inspired Living Publishing and a former editor of the Little Patuxent Review.

Visit www.DeborahKevin.com to learn more.

Step into the Next Level of Visibility!

Learn More about the Powerful Publishing, Marketing & Visibility Project with Inspired Living Publishing!

Be a Part of Our Much-Anticipated eighth book, SHINE! Stories to Inspire You to Dream Big, Fear Less, and Blaze Your Own Trail.

In late February, Inspired Living Publishing will begin accepting applications for our much anticipated eighth sacred anthology, SHINE!.

Over 220 heart-centered female entrepreneurs have elevated their brand visibility with our powerful 9-month publishing, marketing, and visibility programs which includes coaching, sacred hot seats, and more.

ALL NEW in 2018! I’m excited to announce that this project includes a LIVE event this fall. Space is limited and goes quickly!

Register for VIP NOTICE TODAY!

Yes! I’m ready to SHINE!

Health & Wellness

Innovative new approaches to Healing as well as holistic methods for dealing with health issues and personal growth

ARE YOU AT RISK FOR AN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE?

By Kristin Grayce McGary LAc., MAc., CFMP®, CSTcert, CLP.

50 million Americans suffer from autoimmune diseases costing almost 100 million dollars a year. It’s a growing number.

And while you may believe that you’re healthy, eat well and “never get sick” you could have autoimmunity – a prediagnosable disease state.

Any autoimmune disease always begins with autoimmunity – where the body’s immune response attacks healthy cells Omtimes.com

and tissues, glands and organs eventually manifesting into a full-blown disease. Put simply, the body has misidentified a part of itself as a foreign invader and mistakenly attacks it.

According to John Hopkins University’s Autoimmune Disease Research Center, autoimmune diseases are a special threat to women. Indeed, more than 75% of their patients are women.1 Sadly, autoimmune diseases are among the ten leading causes of death among women in all age groups up to the age of 65.2 I’ve had an autoimmune disease called Hoshimotos Thyroiditis. About 90% of all thyroid disorders are actually autoimmune issues but they are left misdiagnosed or undiagnosed until such extensive damage is done to the thyroid gland that it’s difficult to fully recover. I suffered for years before I discovered what was really going on. I needn’t have suffered and I can help you to protect yourself from autoimmunity by passing along some of the knowledge I have accumulated.

Conventional medicine practiced in the West has few answers for those suffering from autoimmune issues and there’s little sight of a cure. It has been my experience that autoimmunity and full-blown autoimmune diseases are symptoms of deeper issues.

Allopathic medicine tends to focus on relieving symptoms rather than getting to the root cause of the problem. From my point of view, autoimmune issues, such as allergies, food sensitivities, digestive issues, foggy thinking, exhaustion, weight gain, repeated infections, even cancer are red flags. Clearly, as far as I am concerned, they point to a dysfunctional immune system. And that can lead to any one of a number of crippling autoimmune diseases such as MS, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

“Never getting sick”, may seem to you like a good thing. That you’re doing OK. But it could very well be the complete opposite and a sign of an under active immune system – it may even be the beginning of an autoimmune disease. It takes a well-regulated, strong, and balanced immune system to create a fever and kill a bunch of bad bugs that Omtimes.com

have invaded your body. A fever is one of the most natural anti-cancer reactions your body can produce. It’s a time when your white blood cells are ten-fold and they are kicking the butts of the invading viruses. In my view, the last thing you should do is suppress that fever with acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Fever suppressants shut off an important immune response and don’t allow your body to do what it was designed to.

So how can you avoid an autoimmune disease or help your body to recover from one?

Fortunately, holistic and functional healthcare providers have developed approaches that get to the root of autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases providing. relief and remission.

And in my opinion, it usually begins with the gut. The gut is the throne of your immune function. About 75% of your immune system comes from your gut which makes it essential to the functioning and balance of your immune system.

Remember I said that autoimmune issues can take years to fully manifest? This Omtimes.com

means your gut may be inflamed and out of sorts without you even knowing it or you may dismiss symptoms that you attribute to aging that are actually a sign of a deeper issue.

An autoimmune issue may be lurking and you won’t even know it until it could be too late. Take note of allergies, food sensitivities, digestive issues, such as gas and bloating, constipation or diarrhea, fatigue, repeated infections or lack of fever they could be warning signs of something more serious.

In my practice, I worked with a patient who had chronic joint inflammation and pain in the knees, shoulders and hands. She was also taking prescription thyroid medication but had never had a full thyroid panel (10 markers as opposed to the conventional standard of TSH, T3 and T4). I found it surprising that she had been prescribed a particular medication without a detailed analysis of the gland that the medication was supposed to be supporting.

Furthermore, she had never had a truly comprehensive functional blood chemistry analysis which would shed light on any deeper medical issues. In my opinion, her

conventional doctors had been working blind.

I always want to see a full panel of tests. When I saw the results of this patient’s tests what we found was shocking. She’d been taking thyroid medication for at least 10 years and her thyroid antibodies were high. No one had ever bothered to test them or explain their importance to her. Once we were fully armed with the appropriate data, she began a gut repair nutritional and lifestyle program. Within weeks her antibodies dropped, her joint pain vanished, and she reported clearer thinking.

Not only was gut repair helping regulate her immune system it was also helping support her brain. (The gut is commonly known as the Second Brain.)

In order to really know the degree of risk you’re facing for autoimmunity or an autoimmune disease, I recommend a truly comprehensive lab panel that is interpreted by someone who understands how to look for the underlying root issues and can individualize treatment based on your unique health and life expression. Additionally,

that health care provided also must be able to interpret your comprehensive lab results based on functional medical reference ranges rather than their limited conventional counterparts. You are unique and what works for you may not work for your best friend. It’s necessary to get all the information and also have it properly interpreted according to your individuality and health goals.

Bio Kristin Grayce McGary LAc., MAc., CFMP®, CSTcert, CLP is a highly sought-after health and lifestyle alchemist. She is renowned for reversing annoying and debilitating health conditions and helping people to live with clarity and vitality. Kristin Grayce is also a speaker and author of Ketogenic Cure; Heal Your Gut, Heal Your Life. www.

KristinMcGary.com References: https://www.hopkinsmedicine. org/institute_basic_biomedical_ sciences/about_us/basic_research_ human_health/autoimmunity/ autoimmunity.html 2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pubmed/10983209

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Using Energetic Techniques for Emotional Detoxing We often hear about detoxing our physical bodies. It is usually a 2 - 7-day process that we undertake to help the body to rid itself of toxins and impurities that tend to slow our natural cleansing processes down.

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But, how often do we think about doing an emotional detox? Our emotions are a fine-tuned, well-balanced set of processes, which are not only chemically induced, but mentally charged.

To fully appreciate this, one must learn to view the body as a vast energy field with positive and negative poles. *Remember: “Energy follows thought.� The imagery of visualization is very powerful!

As your client breathes, you may tell them to be inhaling and exhaling through the energy points. This will charge the aura, Chakra and energy centers and surrounding organs with vital energy.

Here is a list of energetic techniques to help in our emotional detox: 1. While meditating, you may choose to have them visualize the corresponding color of each energy point saturating and balancing each part of their body.

2. You may utilize the vibrational power of sound or

music during your session. The body will enhance a positive, reconnecting flow of energy, which will allow your or your client to bring up, recognize and clear emotional blocks.

3. Remember the power of scent can be used to enhance the experience. Use essential oil on the pulse points or diffuse it into the air.

Burn soothing incense or one of the many sacred herbs such as sage, cedar, or lavender.

4. Use Reiki energy, qigong or breath work to increase your healing session and helping yourself or the client to prepare themselves to step back into the real world with less tension, stress, and apprehension.

5. Give a compelling prayer or affirmation, one that will empower your patient to move forward.

6. Acupuncture has shown to be very helpful for dealing with symptoms that pop up, as well as boosting the immune system, improving circulation, stimulating Omtimes.com

brain function by accessing the hypothalamic-pituitarygonadal axis and increasing energy, coordination and muscle function.

Using Crystals as energy generators and support Rhodonite and Watermelon Tourmaline, both stones are believed to work on the muscular-skeletal system and therefore are beneficial for stress-related issues that affect the muscles and bones.

Quartz is the master healer and next to Calcite, are two of the stones most closely related to our own body composition.

The clearer the quartz, the better and calcite should be chosen for the color associated with the part of the body that is having the most difficult.

Eilat healing stones are a unique mixture of Chrysocolla, Malachite, Turquoise, Silver and Native Copper. This gem can create, store and conduct energy. It also can maintain this activity for many, many years. Eliat Stone also has

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an uncanny ability to absorb many types of pain.

Stones with magnetic properties have been found to help improve circulation by moving blood (and Qi) and can be very helpful with pain syndromes in general: Hematite is one of the most mystical of all gemstones. This stone is cold to the touch even in the heat of summer and worn as a bracelet to cool the blood. Magnet Therapy can increase blood flow and circulation and that it can help speed up the healing process and alleviate pain. The Human body contains a magnetic charge that is essential for it to function. Magnetic Hematite is also very good for magnetic therapy. Try a neck massage with a pair and feel what magnets can do for you. They can even be directly bandaged onto an affected area or onto acupressure points.

Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac http://www.peacefulmind.com Therapies for healing mind, body, spirit

ASCENDINGHEARTS.COM

WE ENGINEER SECOND CHANCES

Alternative medicines or Holistic Medicines are a set of practices, techniques, and therapies whose purpose is to naturally restore the patient’s energy balance and heal diseases. They are called alternatives because they are precisely an alternative to conventional medicine.

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Some argue that their efficacy as valid therapies are not scientifically proven. According to the National Institute of Health of the United States, there are more than 300 practices that are divided into 7 categories: alternative medical therapies, herbal medicine, nutrition and electromagnetic applications, mind-body interactions, biological or pharmacological and manual therapies (treatments).

Nevertheless, this process of understanding that health can establish itself again from bringing the internal harmony of the human being, the search for the natural and straightforward ways for Curing illnesses gain strength.

Types of Alternative Healing Homeopathy It is an alternative therapy created by the physician Samuel Hahnemann in the late eighteenth century, which uses highly diluted preparations to develop the same symptoms of the patient. The basic premise is: the similar is cured with the alike, which is explained in the conception that what

causes the symptoms, is what can cure them in low doses.

Homeopathic medicines are of vegetable, mineral or animal origin in high dissolutions and, in general, they do not have adverse effects. Homeopathy does not have scientific recognition, beyond considering it as a placebo effect.

Acupuncture Acupuncture is a therapy used in traditional Chinese medicine, which seeks to restore the balance between the poles of the body that are disharmonized. It is performed with needles that are introduced at specific points of the body, to stimulate the passage of energy and restore balance, thus favoring physical, mental and healing well-being.

This technique is used primarily in the treatment of pain, for example, to decrease pain during surgical procedures. It is also used in the treatment of allergies, inflammatory processes, etc.

Aromatherapy Aromatherapy is an alternative therapy that uses essential oils for massage, inhalation,

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bath, etc., to heal physical or emotional ailments. This treatment is adequate for the problems such as Stress, insomnia, for muscle spasms, relaxation, respiratory problems, digestive problems, skin conditions, etc.

Bach Flowers It is an alternative treatment, a floral therapy that uses a series of natural essences of flowers with healing properties, to stimulate the body’s ability to balance.

Among the conditions that can be treated with the Bach Fores are Depression, anxiety, anxiety, tension, as well as maintaining a positive attitude towards illness and the healing process. Dr. Bach, the creator of this therapy, conceived the disease as an imbalance of harmony between the body mind and spirit. That when that balance is broken, the energy field is altered, and a gap is opened that favors the disease. The Bach flower system consists of 38 floral remedies that correspond to 38 emotional states.

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Phytotherapy It is about millenary knowledge about the beneficial effect of medicinal plants. The use of plants (vegetation) for therapeutic purposes goes back to time immemorial, and today science confirms the presence of chemical compounds with pharmacological properties, which are often the essential ingredients used by laboratories for the development of specific drugs.

Phytotherapy includes from the study to the therapeutic use of medicinal plants, phytopharmaceutical, fungicide and plant resources.

Reiki It is a type of alternative medicine originating in Japan, which is based on the healing and balance of the patient, through the imposition of hands that channel energy. The emitter or channel (the person who gives Reiki) locates through the imposition of hands on the patient, the chakras (energetic points of the curl) and unlocks those that are blocked with negative energy, through the

power that passes through his hands. As an alternative therapy, it should be considered as a complementary treatment and not leave the doctor, but only accompany it.

Shiatsu It is an alternative treatment originating in Japan, combining traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine (chiropractic). It consists of the localized pressure of specific points of the body, to unlock blocked channels in the meridians that produce physical pain and discomfort.

Fundamentally pressure is exerted with the palms of the hands and thumbs, but elbows and knees can also be used.

The treatment also includes stretching, joint manipulation and other techniques. It is especially useful for the treatment of nervous and digestive problems.

Reflexology Also called zonal therapy, is the stimulation of specific points in hands, feet, ears, and nose, known as reflex zones, which

seeks to provide beneficial effects elsewhere in the body.

The premise of this therapy is based on the fact that all organs of the body have their reflex zone, reflected in the soles of the feet and by stimulating these points using massage, it is possible to restore the health and physical and mental well-being of the patient.

Reflexology is used to relieve the following ailments: Neck pain, back, gastritis, asthma, menstrual aches, headaches, constipation, among others.

Ayurvedic medicine Its origins are as remote as those of traditional Chinese medicine.

It is medicine coming from India, which seeks to restore the energy balance that was lost and that is the cause of ailments, diseases, malaise. This practice combines several techniques including Use of medicinal plants, massages, diet and herbal medicine, therapies like meditation, relaxation therapies whose purpose is to align the energy centers called chakras and restore physical, mental and physical balance. Spiritual.

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Simply Spiritual To perceive reality from a different perspective is to open oneself to the wonders and unlimited wealth of creation. Simply Spiritual offers the opportunity to visit new places, new methods, and different ways to perceive the vast human knowledge of our Universe.

The Real Meaning of Theism

By Cathedral of the Soul

Theism is a philosophical concept that defends the existence of gods or superior divine entities that would have been responsible for the creation of the Universe and all the things that exist in it.

What is Theism and what it means to your concept of Divinity?

Theism supports simultaneously the idea of the ​​ existence of only One God (monotheism) or several gods (polytheism). Despite the statement of belief, it is not Omtimes.com

considered a type of religion. This concept limits itself to classifying only that which is related to the existence of gods. Theology, on the other hand, is a discipline that is born and is based on the concept of theism.

Theistic philosophy began to be propagated from the seventeenth century by the English philosopher and theologian Ralph Cudworth (1617 - 1688). Its emergence came to oppose atheistic, deist1 and pantheistic movements.

One can divide theism into Monotheism (belief in one God); Polytheism (belief in various gods); and Henotheism (belief in several gods, one being supreme to all).

In this way, the theists are formed both by Christians (Monotheists), believing in only one God; and by Pagans (Polytheists), who believe in various gods. Hinduism is not necessarily a Polytheistic religion as they believe in one God, that has infinite ways to manifest itself.

The main characteristic of theism is the strengthening of the idea of ​​the existence of a single God, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, and transcending all things existing in the Universe.

The word “theism” originated from the Greek Theos, which literally means “god.” Consequently, we can easily say that the concept of theism is directly opposed to that of Atheism, which does not believe in the existence of any kind of divinity.

“The whole war between the atheist and the theist comes down to this: the atheist believes a ‘what’ created the universe; the theist believes a ‘who’ created the universe.”

–Criss Jami, Killosophy

Open Theism It is a religious practice where some of God’s leading characteristics are removed: Qualities such as omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience. This line of thought is also known as “the theology of openness” or “ The openness of God.” From the so-called Theological Process, followers of open theism claim that the primary Creator or creative deity (God) does not have the ability to know of the future. In this way, it causes you to continually change your mind about your actions, according to the unfolding of events.

Thus, for open theism, God can know all that is possible to be known, however, because it is Omtimes.com

impossible to see what is yet to come, thus, the Supreme Deity would not be entirely omniscient.

To justify open theism, its advocates use passages from the Holy Scriptures to show how surprised God is in some situations, as well as changing his mind and acquiring knowledge from experience (Genesis 6: 6, 22:12, Exodus 32: 14; Jonah 3:10).

The difference between Theism and Deism Like Theism, Deism believes that the universe was created by a being of Infinite superior intelligence. However, the main difference between the two is that Deism considers that this entity may or may not be a God. Unlike the foundations of Theism, which consists in the tradition and direct revelation of the information of the ancestors, Deism is based on reason, free thinking, and personal experiences.

Accordingly, the conception of God is not only in the fact that it has been revealed through ancient traditions but through a rational understanding of the idea of ​​Godhead. For this reason, deists cannot be considered atheists, since they believe in the existence Omtimes.com

of a deity. However, unlike theism, deism does not see the need to institutionalize religions or other types of formal cults.

For the deists, the creative deity sought to give nature the responsibility to control the course of life and all things. In this way, from the moment of creation, the Creator ceases to exercise his position as divinity, thus dispensing with the need for worship and worship for him.

Deist theories were elaborated in the seventeenth century by Lord Herbert Cherbury, the creator of British Deism.

Cathedral of the Soul intends to undertake the challenge of creating a multidimensional healing space that is dedicated those who seek to enrich, enlighten and heal themselves while serving and assisting in the healing of others. Cathedral of the Soul is one of the many spiritual outreaches of Humanity Healing International, a registered 501-C3 nonprofit with Church status. https://cathedralofthesoul.org Deist definition, a person who believes in deism

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OM Living For those living a more Conscious Lifestyle

The Truth (and Untruth) about Mindfulness

by Linda Bloom

Mindfulness can provide a direct path to the experience that we desire. Those who believe that being mindful is blissful will inevitably be disappointed.

Since being mindful is about

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being present with one’s experience, whatever that may be at any given moment, the range of possibilities of what can show up is infinite. Being complete isn’t necessarily synonymous with feeling right; it is merely about showing up and being at one with whatever is present in our field of experience now.

“Mindfulness is not something that is only done in the meditation hall; it is also done in the kitchen, in the garden, when we are on the telephone when we are driving a car when we are doing the dishes.”

–Thich Nhat Hanh Mindfulness has become a popular subject. Time magazine, an icon of mainstream American culture, featured a cover article on mindfulness. According to the article, all kinds of people, particularly celebrities, are engaging in this practice with surprising results. “Surprising” perhaps for those who haven’t been practicing mindfulness, but not for those who have been.

What may be surprising is that mindfulness is not so much a form of meditation that one engages in with eyes closed and legs crossed on a zafu (pillow) once or twice a day, but it is a way of being in which we experience clear awareness of our momentto-moment experience with a non-judging attitude. While to the uninitiated, this may seem simple; but simple isn’t necessarily easy.

Learning How to Stay Present Since the mind tends to jump from one object of attention to another, we are subject to distractions. When this happens, we can feel fragmented and incomplete.

What is missing is a sense of wholeness. Because we are not entirely present with our experience, there is a strong tendency to look for something or someone that will provide us with what we need to feel whole. When we experience a sense of wholeness, there is a feeling of being at one with the world, being at peace, lacking

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nothing, secure, connected to others and ourselves. When we don’t experience this, we may pursue money, attention, material objects, sensory pleasure, drugs, or anything else that we have concluded will provide an antidote to the distressing feelings of disconnection.

The practice of mindfulness can provide a direct path to the experience that we desire. Those who believe that being mindful is blissful will inevitably be disappointed.

Since being mindful is about being present with one’s experience at any given moment, the range of possibilities of what can show up is infinite. Being complete isn’t necessarily synonymous with feeling good; it is simply about showing up and being at one with whatever is present in our field of experience now.

Mindfulness Can Enhance Connection to Self and Others So what does all this have to do with relationships? In a nutshell, everything. Many

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of us seek partners out of a desire to find this sense of wholeness. The strong emotional activation that relationships provide is a powerful distraction from unpleasant feelings. Practicing mindfulness in the context of a relationship can enhance the quality of the connection. It neutralizes negative reactive patterns that diminish trust and intimacy, which enables partners to attend more consciously to each other’s needs. Mindfulness in our romantic partnership can be a central form of daily practice.

When both partners can communicate their experience, this cycle of mutual reinforcement enhances the capacity for full engagement.

Mindfulness can be practiced in a wide variety of circumstances in our relationships. For example, it can mean sitting quietly, taking walks together, or practicing discernment by speaking only that which is true, useful, and respectful to each other, rather than indulging in unsolicited advice and criticism. It can involve

setting aside time to catch up on essential concerns rather than practical ones, or by deliberately savoring a meal rather than rushing through it. By simply sitting mindfully and watching the unfolding flow of our experiences, we feel whole and connected.

Simply interrupting our mindchatter with a reminder to check in, and taking a couple of conscious breaths can provide effective relief from disturbing thoughts.

Taking the Challenge to Commit to Mindfulness Practice Mindfulness is not an escape from responsibilities that require action, but rather it is a process that enables us to see clearly and act more efficiently. And for those of you who would like to practice mindfulness but feel that you don’t have enough time available to do it, consider this: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, spends four hours a day sitting in meditation. And he does not have an empty schedule. When something is important enough, to us, we manage to find time for

it. Living mindfully doesn’t require us to sit in meditation or add anything to our already full lives. It is just a matter of practicing presence with that which that we are already doing. And paradoxically, doing so doesn’t mean getting less done, but just the opposite. Try it and see for yourself. It may be easier than you think!

AUTHOR BIO: Linda Bloom L.C.S.W. has served as psychotherapist and seminar leader practicing relationship counseling almost forty years.

If you like what you read, click here to sign up Bloomwork’s monthly inspirational newsletter and receive our free e-book: Going For the Gold: Tools, practice, and wisdom for creating exemplary relationships.

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HYPERLINK (Facebook): https://www.facebook.com/ lindaandcharliebloom

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Feng Shui and Transgenderism

by Kartar Diamond

At the heart of Feng Shui and all of Chinese metaphysics, we have the symbolism of the Yin-Yang, often called the Tai Chi symbol. The swirling black and white coding represent the masculine and feminine principle, with a notion that nothing is all masculine or Omtimes.com

all feminine, like the ratio of male and female hormones which exist in each human being. But we also have definitive chromosomal markers which identify us as male or female, even with quite a range of outward appearances or behaviors.

It is the ratio of yin to yang, which characterizes all that we are and what is around us. The Sun is characterized as yang or in the masculine category, and the moon is classified as yin, the feminine category. These distinctions go on and on, but they are also in a constant state of flux, just as night gives way to a day or “young” eventually turns into “old.”

In one of the very first feng shui classes I ever taught, a student came up to me afterward to ask me a question. Part of the class had been devoted to one branch of Feng Shui called the East-West School, or the Eight Mansion School (as in the 8 basic directions). In that style of Feng Shui, distinctions are made between males and females born in the same year.

For example, a man born in 1963 would be characterized as an east type person and a woman born in 1963 would be characterized as a west type person, with a unique order to their best and worst personal directions. I happen to no longer make that distinction between male and female trigrams, but it is a big part of modern-day feng shui practices. So much

so, that I make a big deal out of it, explaining to clients and students why I don’t practice that anymore.

From that signature energy for the year of birth, unfolds all kinds of information about best sleeping direction, best entrance direction, best workstation position and even best house type orientation. It is very interesting, but also very rigid and I only offer up Eight Mansion advice to clients as long as it does not contradict or interfere with the other styles of Feng Shui, which I value more.

In my current practice, if you are born in a certain year, you are the same trigram (also called a personal gua) whether male or female, in the same way, that if you are born in the year of the Rooster, you are a Rooster whether male or female. But back in 1992, I was also following along with the still-popular system which gives a woman a different personal trigram than a man born the same year. The student asked me, “Is my personal trigram based on my gender at birth?”

Back then, we didn’t refer to the person as transgender. We Omtimes.com

called them transsexual if they went through with the surgery.

And it was very rare.

From my generation and further back, if a man had a deep yearning to wear women’s clothing and present as female, we referred to the person as a transvestite. And many transvestite men who spoke about it publicly would claim they were entirely heterosexual but enjoyed dressing up as women from time to time. It appeared to be more of a sexual fetish than a form of gender identity. And of course, from the beginning of time we have had women (whether lesbian or not) who were more masculine in their physical appearance and/or personality and men (whether gay or not) who presented as more feminine physically or in their personalities. Except in the extremely rare cases of being a true hermaphrodite (born with both female and male sexual organs), we still only have two genders. Our gender identification is with us in our DNA from birth.

I have been reading articles lately, written by gay men who don’t have a favorable view Omtimes.com

of the transgender movement.

They point out that there is still a 30%+ suicide rate among transgender people who are post-op and end up with regrets. The controversies of that issue are best left to debate within the medical and psychiatric community because co-morbidity is extremely common. I just happen to notice in current cultural discussions that sexual orientation and personality is getting blurred with the more scientific assignments of literal gender.

Based on our DNA, I had to tell the student that their personal trigram in Feng Shui is based on their gender at birth. I wouldn’t even be asked that question now because I don’t promote the applications of Feng Shui which distinguish between male or female (that come directly from the Eight Mansion School). Historically, that school of Feng Shui was developed over a thousand years ago, but reasons for developing that school are as suspect as some of the modern day, re-inventions of Feng Shui. That said, I can certainly agree (as in the everchanging yin-yang symbol), that we can find different

expressions of a personal trigram for a male versus female.

For instance, a Qian woman will experience life differently than a Qian man, or any of the other trigrams. And that aspect may also be influenced by the culture one grows up in.

For example, the Qian trigram (Hard Metal) can produce leaders and very strong people who take on leadership roles easily. It represents the father image in Feng Shui. In a more matriarchal society, a Qian woman may feel more powerful and comfortable to represent her true nature.

Not only suited for the role of leadership, but the Qian woman may also have more opportunities in a more equal or enlightened society. The Qian trigram is symbolic of the person in charge. But in the United States and elsewhere, many women are now the head of household, the breadwinner, and/or have very demanding jobs.

Women, in general, have taken on more masculine roles or identities than any other time in recent history. Further, we can also see variations in people

with the same trigram, but born in different seasons or different Chinese Astrology signs. For example, a Dui man born in 1957 is a Rooster and a Dui man born in 1966 is a Horse. Some variables are taken into account, so we cannot honestly say that all people of a certain trigram are the same. That is as generic as reading your astrology forecast in a newspaper.

Not so much in Feng Shui, but in the complementary practice of Nine Star Ki, we can better understand someone’s sexual personality, when we combine a year of birth with the month of birth. That system allows for people to be identified as yang/yang, yang/yin, yin/yin or yin/yang. Those traits do not determine absolutely someone’s sexual orientation. And yet, a person’s combination of yin or yang aspects can help reveal if the person feels emotionally connected to or understood by the opposite sex, insecure about their own masculinity or femininity, or their own ability to understand the opposite sex.

Company: Kartar’s School of Traditional Feng Shui® http://fengshuisolutions.net Omtimes.com

Escalate Your Career as an Entrepreneur

By Maria Khalife

Some experts say that entrepreneurs are born with an entrepreneurial spoon in their mouths. Others say, the skills to become an entrepreneur can be taught

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and learned. Entrepreneurs have courage because their unique way of solving life’s problems are sometimes labeled “crazy” by naysayers.

Looking back through history, we seldom recall the names of the finger pointers. We only remember the success of the “crazy” entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs don’t work from “inside the box.” They step out of the box, and then they shred the box!

They are groundbreakers, risk takers, and definitely non-traditional thinkers. In addition to their thinking up unusual, non-conventional ideas, entrepreneurs put their ideas to work. They create un-thought-of-before opportunities, they design unique solutions, and they don’t accept “No” for an answer. They are about improvement and forward progress.

Consider adopting the entrepreneurial mindset

in your current career to make improvements, make your co-worker’s tasks more manageable, and make the client base more satisfied with your product or service.

If you haven’t considered this approach before, it could become the basis for a significant escalation in your career and the fabulous feeling of being in full charge at your work.

If you can adopt the “I am a problem-solving entrepreneur,” you’ll start looking at today’s same-o some-o with brand new eyes.

Your level of comfort and contribution will go up in the job you’re doing now, and you’ll enjoy a new sense of fulfillment as never before.

You’ll begin to be noticed, and you’ll recognize this unique force for good is the entrepreneurial power at work creating your next step forward.

Instead of living with the

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status quo, begin to ask yourself “Just how ‘quo’ does the status need to be?” You’ll cast aside your old mindset, look with a keen new vision at the old ways, and step forward with a new way of thinking, a new way of creating new results. You’ll become an entrepreneur right in today’s job! You’ll carry this entrepreneurial mindset along with you into your next job and the one after that.

1. Have a high degree of willingness. If you want to be above average, have a keen eye for improvements for you, for the company, for your co-workers and let’s not forget the clients. Be the first volunteer to raise your hand. Put in a little extra time. Do more than the minimum expectation.

This will demonstrate your reliability as well as your dedication. The clients will soon learn who they can rely on. It’s small, but

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budding entrepreneurs usually start small.

2. Look at your job description and figure out how to exceed it.

Entrepreneurs don’t have just one job description. A beginning entrepreneur looks for what needs to be done, and he just does it. They don’t let arbitrary boundaries such as a job description limit their ability. A real entrepreneur can do all the jobs in his company.

3. Entrepreneurs own responsibility, work to generate brand new ideas, and are innovators. Steve Jobs, the master innovator behind the Apple brand of products, exemplifies these qualities. Watch his movie to learn his mindset. When you take ownership of creating and accomplishing new ideas in your current corner of the world, you’ve become a true entrepreneur.

Questioning what’s in place

now opens the door to creating improvements. Share your ideas with management, listen to their feedback, and determined to improve on your ideas once you share.

4. How can I improve the value of what I’m doing?

This is the entrepreneur’s mantra. We have so many wonderful rags to riches stories of individuals who started out from situations that were horrible to become someone at the top of their game. They did it by adding value. If you can get into the end user’s mind, you’ll soon see more ways to do something extra to please them, to allow them the benefit beyond the simple benefit your product provides. Think of In-and-Out stripping down all but the top of the straw cover just by asking if you’ll be eating in the car. Improved value.

5. Steady on, improving as you go. Once you make

the commitment to use entrepreneurial tools in your current job, things will begin to change. You’re going to learn tons about who you are and who your teammates are. If you read, study, and learn about entrepreneur’s skills, and you put them to use where you are right now, you’re making who you are a valuable asset. You’ll begin to be thought of by others as an innovator, a guy who’s willing to be helpful, or a gal who’s got tons of creative ideas.

6. “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” You can research this saying and not find out for sure just who said it. Or, you can assume full ownership for your career, for adding entrepreneurial skills to your current job and prove that the saying is accurate. An entrepreneurial mindset doesn’t blame others.

He or she says “I’m in!” and becomes the one creating the results. If you’re not “in,” you’re out. You in?

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Relationships The interconnectiveness among all human beings and, consequently, the relationships among us are the focus of this section. The dynamics of the web of connections we make is one of the most prominent aspects of human existence: how we interlace with each other’s existence in a meaningful way.

How To Survive Being Single On Valentine’s Day

By Marcia Sirota, MD.

This tendency to compare ourselves negatively can have a major impact on our self-esteem when holidays come around.

The other day, my hairdresser mentioned to me that he’s not looking forward to February. The reason was that as Valentine’s Day approaches, many of his single female customers are, in his words,

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“totally freaking out” about not having a date for the night.

My hairdresser works in a nice salon. Most of his clients are attractive, successful women.

A lot of the single ones, it seems, are having a hard time coping with being unattached on the one day of the year devoted to love.

It reminds me a bit of New Year’s Eve, in which many of us put a huge amount of pressure on ourselves to have the most exciting celebrations with the largest group of friends. In both cases, I think that we’re trying too hard to prove something to ourselves or to the other people in our lives, and that can never end well.

A recent study from Sebastian Deri, a Cornell University, psychology Ph.D. candidate, demonstrated that although we usually consider ourselves superior in most categories, when it comes to our relationships, we assume that were less successful than the

other people in our lives.

This tendency to compare ourselves negatively can have a major impact on our self-esteem when holidays come around, especially on Valentine’s Day. We imagine that everyone else is in a loving, committed relationship, or at least that they’re out there, having a ton of fun dating, while we’re alone in front of the TV in our fuzzy slippers plowing through a tub of Haagen Dazs.

The single women at my hairdressers must be mortified they’re the “only one” in their social circle who’s “a failure” at finding a mate. But that’s not really the case.

You’re not single because of any inadequacies or shortcomings within you.

Sure, it’s great to meet that special someone and have their love and support day in and day out, but that isn’t always

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possible, especially in this age of increasing isolation and alienation.

These days, a lot of us might be spending more of our time unattached than in a committed relationship, and for those people who find themselves alone on Valentine’s Day, I offer up a few suggestions.

Being single is not a disease It doesn’t help if you put yourself down for not having a date on this night. You’re not a “loser” or a “failure” if you haven’t found love.

You’re not single because of any inadequacies or shortcomings within you. Often, finding that special someone is just the luck of the draw. Instead of beating yourself up for being unattached, try to put things in perspective. Think about all the good things you have in your life and be grateful for those.

There’s no substitute for self-love When you nurture yourself,

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you feel fulfilled. Sure, you might still want a partner, but at least you won’t feel like you desperately need one. And, when you’re filled with selflove, you’ll be walking around feeling complete.

With self-love, you won’t feel the burning need for someone else to compensate for the lack of love in your life. If you do meet someone, your relationship will be based on caring and sharing, rather than needing the other person to fill a void inside you.

Being desperate always backfires Desperation makes you jump at the first person you see, rather than waiting for the right person to come along.

Love, even a real connection, isn’t something you can force.

You may or may not someday find the love of your life, but it won’t happen by trying too hard. Live your best life and be your best self and if the person of your dreams is out there, they may very well find you.

Say no to self-pity, yes to being proactive You don’t have to be desperate, but you can make yourself more available. Get out there and join a club, take a class or connect with a social group.

Participate in sports or community activities. Get involved with things that you feel passionate about, and over time, you’re likely to make some new friends; maybe even meet someone nice.

Meanwhile, feed your soul Get out into nature and communicate with the universe.

Take part in spiritual or religious services. Meditate, do yoga, practice mindfulness. Any of these will help you to feel happy and fulfilled, whether or not you find love by Valentine’s Day. Rediscover the artist within you We were all creative as kids; it’s just that some of us forgot how great it is to create. Doing art of any type is going to be incredibly uplifting and meaningful. Art is something

that you can do just for yourself.

Being creative is empowering because doing art makes you happy. And, if you gain some mastery, other people will likely want to write, dance or play music with you. Creative collaborations may or may not lead to love, but they’re fantastically fun.

Value your friends and family You have people in your life, right now, who love and accept you unconditionally, and who’ll be there for you whenever you need them.

You may not have a romantic partner, but you do have love in your life. Be grateful for these relationships and put energy into keeping them strong, and you’ll feel a lot less lonely on Valentine’s Day. Giving love fills you with love Being a kind, caring, the generous person will bring you fulfillment and a deeper sense of connection with others. Altruism is extremely rewarding.

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7 steps to Help you forget an Impossible Love

By AscendingHearts

Forgetting an impossible love is not an easy task.

We call it Impossible that love that can never become a stable relationship, or that one that ends before it has begun or matured. It is these types of love interest that give birth to the most profound mourning, and sometimes they are the most difficult to forget. It is paradoxical because, if they did not finally flourish, in theory, Omtimes.com

they should not give rise to inflict so many sufferings, but they do.

The more practical people tend to do not complicate their life with an impossible love.

When they realize that there are no conditions to build or maintain the bonds of love, they immediate accept and put an end to it in time. But most of us, on the other hand, find it very difficult to give up the

expectations, illusions or dreams that have been created around that problematic relationship. For us, the feeling is stronger than the evidence of its unfeasibility.

One way or another, an impossible love is not an easy one to forget. It leaves profound marks, precisely because it was not lived or worn until the moment when it was necessary to renounce it: the idealization was not broken. But while you do not forget everything, you can process that feeling and set it aside to move on. Here are 7 tips to achieve this goal.

“Love is like a war, easy to start, difficult to finish, impossible to forget.”

-Henry Louis Mencken1. Define to yourself what makes this love an impossible love There is a big difference between a challenging or conflicted love and an impossible love. The latter cannot exist. The most typical case, and also the one involving the most emotional difficulties, is that of someone who loves and is not reciprocated. It may be more accurate to say that one person loves and needs another, but this

other does not feel the same.

True love is always two.

Of course, you can try to win someone who shows no interest in a beginning. At the same time, it is also important to understand that there is a point where it is necessary to accept that the investment has no future. The same applies to other impossibilities that usually have this same element in common: one wants, and the other does not. If there is no mutual feeling, there is no viability.

2. Examine your fantasies about love It is very common that the difficulty in renouncing an impossible love comes from some fantasies that have settled down in the culture. For example, the “half orange” or the “love of life.” From these imaginaries comes the idea that there is only one person “predestined” to be our partner.

3. Recognize the negative aspects of this relationship Passion, not love, quickly leads us to idealize people and situations.

Sometimes we project into them virtues and attributes that they do not really have, or that they only possess in a modest measure.

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To dilute these mental constructs, it is essential that we also evaluate the harmful elements of their interactions with us.

What flaws does this person has that you love so much? What disappointing aspects are there?

Can you think of how these shortcomings and faults would continue to manifest in the next 10 years? Are these the questions you should ask yourself and try to respond with complete honesty? If so, after asking yourself, in the end, your perspective will likely to be more realistic.

4. Accept candidly that it’s time to forget This is the hardest step. It has been proven that when a person wants to be in a loving relationship with someone, and it is not possible, reactions are produced similarly to those that an addict has during the withdrawal syndrome. Emotional discomfort, and even physical discomfort, sometimes becomes difficult to tolerate.

And as with addictions, the most challenging thing is to accept that dependence exists, that it generates profound suffering and feels powerless before it. It Omtimes.com

seems natural to admit, but it is not. Sometimes we are capable of inventing and rationalizing any pretext not to accept that we are, in fact, just a victim of dependency. When you can admit it, you take the most crucial step towards liberation.

This focuses on, empowers and clarifies the next steps to follow.

5. Delete links and delete memories Once you recognize that it is time to leave this impossible love behind, what follows is to begin the consistent cutting all the bonds that may still subsist.

That means not calling, not trying new dates, keeping a distance from their friends, and keep doing whatever you can to break the ties you have with that person. In particular, cut all links in social networks: they are very treacherous.

In the same logic, it is necessary to suppress memories. Delete photos, get rid of gifts. If you are not ready to get rid of them, then gather everything and store everything in a hard-to-reach place. If your decision is firmer, get rid of everything right away.

It is an efficient way of blurring and diluting the presence of this

impossible love in your life.

6. Change your routine, try something new It’s time to start a new stage.

Impossible love affairs may have occupied many of your hours, your days and even your years.

Letting go, it will not be easy.

However, if you set Yourself out to make that change, everything will become simpler and more straightforward. Yes, there are things you’ve always wanted to do, and for one reason or another, you’ve postponed. Now is the time to meet these “issues.”

The time to give the final goodbye is also the time to venture into new activities or new places, and even in new relationships.

Traveling is always a great alternative. How about you propose to that? It’s also worth exploring your skills, taking a course that will get you to meet new people or practice an exciting hobby? Life goes on, and your heart renewed will suggest you more than a thousand of new things to do.

7. Give it time.

There are love stories and love affairs, and some of them leave marks so deep that they do not

go away naturally, allowing new things that happen.

An impossible love almost always takes root for a long time and resists not being remembered.

It is something that, in any case, cannot be rid of overnight. It requires decision, courage, and character. It costs, and there will be small relapses, but time will help you release and forget.

If you are clear that you can not continue to nurture a love interest than that love cannot exist. When you also cut off the bonds and set out to start a new life, you will gradually see that it is possible to forget an impossible love.

You can rewrite the story in your life in a way that the person will occupy a different place in your mind and in your heart. You will progressively feel more peace in your soul.

You will find that in this process of loving and then letting them go, you have learned a lot about yourself and grown.

And of course, nothing helps you forget a challenging relationship like a new consciously aligned with your alchemized energy.

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Metaphysics

The Power of the Infinity Symbol

By Barbara Heider-Rauter

What is the infinity sign really about? There was a time when knowledge of the power of symbols was the preserve of initiates only, and it was passed on in secret. The infinity sign, or lemniscate, is one such fascinating symbol and produces its power regardless

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of whether we believe in it or not. In this article, you will discover how it has been used in many different cultures and how we can make use of this powerful symbol today.

Let us immerse ourselves in the magical world of ancient symbols. I wonder, will we feel its force straight away?

We all know what the infinity symbol – the sign that represents the immeasurable and the boundless – looks like, but very few of us know what power it holds. It has been highly prized for centuries, used for protection and the bringing of harmony and balance to opposing entities in many cultures. The band across the forehead of Egyptian pharaohs bore the image of a snake in the shape of figure eight. It was also the number of Thoth, the Egyptian god of the Laws and of wisdom and magic. In Indian cultures, we see the infinity symbol in depictions of Kundalini energy and in the staffs carried by Hermes and Asclepius.

From a spiritual perspective, eight is the number of the

initiate – those who have transcended the seven stages of awakening and passed through the seven heavens.

Eight is the number linked with the power of resurrection and regeneration, symbolizing happiness and paradise regained. In Chinese tradition, it represents wealth and prosperity and is used in Feng Shui to arrange living spaces harmoniously. The infinity sign is also within us, in our very cells and the basic structure of our genes. It is in the double helix of the strands of our DNA, a continuous chain of figures-of-eight.

How can we make conscious use of the infinity symbol?

How can this powerful and dynamic symbol help us in our daily lives? I suggest that when we feel the need for something, for example, greater richness and serenity in our lives, we can draw an infinity symbol and inscribe these two words in each of the loops. A single loop can contain more than one concept. The lemniscate will bring dynamism and balance to whatever is important or of

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interest to us. It will help us to find harmony and equilibrium in every way, bringing balance to opposing forces.

The infinity sign can also provide help with healing. By visualizing or drawing the lemniscate as a symbol, we can use it on any part of the body where balance and harmony are needed. If we feel under the weather, we can write the word “health” on an infinity symbol and carry it with us. T The figure eight can also be of help in the run-up to an exam.

Write the words “knowledge” or “wisdom” on an infinity sign and put it in your pocket.

If you don’t want to draw or paint the symbol on something, use it in jewelry instead and wear a piece decorated with the lemniscate. Its effect is felt via the energetic field of our skin and throughout our innermost being.

The infinity sign is often engraved on wedding rings, where it symbolizes the everlasting nature of the relationship between

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two people. It can also be extremely effective when used to restore harmony in problematic relationships, whether conflict lies within yourself or with others; in this respect, it teaches us a way of understanding how seemingly irreconcilable opposites can be reunited. It helps us to find a new perspective on apparently insoluble problems.

I also use the infinity symbol to make decisions when I am unsure or doubtful. Draw a figure-of-eight on a piece of paper and write one option in one loop and the other option in the second loop. Then take a pen and trace along the infinity symbol until you feel better. Repeat this tracing exercise for a few days until a way of approaching a solution emerges. The infinity symbol, a closed loop with no beginning and no end, can provide you with unlimited energy if you find yourself in a debilitating situation. It is also considered a powerful tool in kinesiology and is used to integrate the left and right halves of the brain, bringing harmony to

a person as a whole, in mind, body, and spirit.

The power of the infinity symbol can also be used to restore the connection between people harmoniously and to promote loving and peaceful relationships. Picture yourself in one of the two loops and the other person in the other loop. In your mind, keep tracing around the infinity sign that now links you together until you feel that everything has reached an equilibrium and any negative emotions or thoughts have been laid to rest again. If you are arguing with your partner, for example (or even if you just wish to boost the harmony between you), mentally place yourself in one loop and your partner in the other. Keep tracing around the line of the symbol in your thoughts until you feel a harmonious connection. The energy of the lemniscate is not intrusive so you can perform the same exercise on behalf of others.

As simple and practical as many of these exercises

may sound, together they constitute the great personal development that the infinity symbol can generate: it is all about our spiritual growth.

As a symbol of the infinite and eternity, the lemniscate opens up a further level of consciousness, helping us to restore our lost unity with Creation and to once again feel at one with the world and all living things. The number of ways in which we can use this powerful symbol is impressive – you can paint or draw the symbol, or even just picture it in your mind, and then you will feel so much.

Barbara Heider-Rauter is an Aura-Soma therapist and educator, the owner of a specialist spiritual shop in Salzburg, Austria, and a leader of seminars conducting ‘heart journeys’ to England and Ireland. For more information, please visit www.barbaraheider-rauter.com © article and interview

by Barbara Vödisch, first published in the magazine Herzstück Nr. 5/17

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We Are All Connected

By John Holland

So many people have asked me over the years, whether it’s possible to connect with your loved ones without having to use a medium. Yes, it can be done - however when someone passes, a new form of communication has to be established. They no longer have a physical voice – but use the power of thought.

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To experience your own communication firsthand, it’s important to become aware.

For example, the next time you’re thinking of someone who’s passed over, it could be because at that exact moment, they’re lovingly thinking of you, too. Be aware of each time you think of them and keep an open mind.

A beautiful story of this child’s experience illustrates my point perfectly. A little girl named Daisy passed to Spirit at the very young age of ten. During her last days, Daisy looked up and told her mother that she was communicating with her little brother who had passed years earlier. In fact, Daisy told her mother that the little boy was standing right beside her and the two were having quite a lively conversation.

“How do you speak to your little brother? I don’t hear or see you moving your lips,” asked the bewildered mother. The grinning little girl answered: “We talk with our think.”

Also, there are ADC’s (After Death Communications), which frequently happen, even

though you may be unaware of them. ADC’s are signs from those on the Other-Side. They can visit you in a dream; leave feathers, shiny coins in the most unlikely places. They are also known to play with electricity by dimming lights, turning off televisions, stereos, cell phones, etc. Since they are energy, it is easy for them to work with electrical energy.

Nature is a wonderful tool also that Spirit uses too. Butterflies, hummingbirds, ladybugs, birds, you name it – when they want to get a message to you.

They’ll do anything to get your attention to say: “I am here, I love you and I am safe.” Trust me when I say: “They want to talk to you – as much as you want to talk to them.”

I am so looking forward the release of my new book being released Feb 27th “Bridging Two Realms Learn to Communicate with Your Loved Ones” where I give many more techniques, stories, and inspiration to help those that have lost someone. It also helps people to understand their own spiritual abilities, and to show that the next realm is closer than you could ever imagine!

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Personal Growth & Development

We grow as individuals as we face challenges and overcome life’s obstacles. This section is dedicated to helping you chart your course

Get ting Ahead by Doing Less Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD

If technology makes you feel you have to be on call twentyfour hours a day, and your To Do list keeps expanding no matter how much you accomplish, you may need to learn the lesson of being less Omtimes.com

productive. The harder you work to get ahead, the more you may fall behind. Then, your stress can intensify. In response, you can start to panic and work harder when what you most need to do is slow down and consider the bigger picture.

Getting ahead by doing less is a possibility you might not have thought about.

Even if you feel you are multitasking well and getting a lot done, reducing your activities for a while can be the best way to make you more productive. Take a break so you can reconnect to your feelings and spend time being contemplative. Just sitting or walking alone in a natural area, observing all that is around you, can help you remember universal truths that are easy to forget in the hustle and bustle every day: Things go in cycles, and there are times for activity and times for rest.

While we tend to focus on what is dying or being lost, something new is always being born or coming in.

Nothing in nature works in isolation. Different plants and animals support each other, working together collaboratively.

As you consider the truths in nature, you might start to discover ways you can do less.

Maybe you can let some tasks go and ask people to help you complete projects you are having trouble finishing on your own.

What activities can you say good-bye to? You might start reducing your To Do list by letting go of whatever you find draining rather than energizing. Watch the flow of a river and consider the flow of your life. Observe the changing light at sunset and connect with your feelings about no longer engaging

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in a familiar activity that has become a burdensome obligation. Let nature relieve your stress by helping you see the role you play in creating an overly ambitious agenda for yourself. Then, you will find ways to reduce the number of stressful activities that are holding you back from doing what you most desire.

What are you ready to let go of as a season of your life comes to a close? What are you ready to begin as a new day dawns?

What seeds might you plant if you rid yourself of the weeds that are taking up space in the garden of your life?

Technology might help you to do more, but does that in turn make you take on more obligations? What if you were to simplify your life by not trying to get so much done—or by asking others to help you?

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Activities you find energizing may keep you running here to there, from sunrise to well past sunset. But if you are remaining busy to avoid considering what you most want to do, your internal pressure to be productive is problematic. Slow down, become still, and you can start to recognize whether you need to change what is on your To Do list. You can consciously choose to set new intentions for what you will achieve. You can start a new course, one that involves greater happiness and contentment.

Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD, is a practicing clinical psychologist, Jungian analyst and shamanic practitioner. He teaches at the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago and is on staff at the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being. Learn more at CarlGreer.com.

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When Problems Persist.

Are You Making Bad Choices?

By Marcia Sirota Have you noticed that the same problems keep coming up in your relationships or at work?

Maybe you’re someone who keeps regaining the weight that you’ve lost or whose blood sugar is managed for a while but then invariably is out of control again?

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Maybe you repeatedly experience bullying by your boss or colleagues? Maybe you keep choosing friends or a partner who treats you poorly?

Have you ever wondered why the same problems keep reoccurring in your personal and professional life?

There’s a very simple and straightforward answer to this: You’re making the same bad choices, over and over again.

So, if that’s the answer, how do you solve the problem?

Well, the solution is also simple, but it takes some work.

To get out of the repeating cycle of problematic situations in your life, you need to be making choices from the part of your brain that is logical, practical and reasonable, as opposed to the part that’s impulsive, irrational, selfcritical and impractical.

Think of the brain as being

theoretically divided into the adult, child and parent parts.

The adult part is the logical, rational part whose decisions make a lot of sense. The child part is the primitive, impulsive part whose decisions are all about what’s familiar, what’s easiest and what feels best at the moment; the parent part is the critical voice that tells you what you “should” do and fills you with guilt, shame, obligation, and self-doubt.

When the child part or parent part of your brain is in charge of making your choices, you’re going to keep creating problems for yourself. The child part takes the comfortable path of least resistance, choosing the same thing over and over because it’s what she knows and what seems easiest at the time.

When the parent part is in charge, it strips away your confidence and undermines your sense of self-worth, so your choices are based

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on avoiding rejection and failure rather than pursuing connection and success.

When this parent part of your brain is in charge, you feel insecure and inadequate, so you consistently make choices out of fear and avoidance, rather than bringing your best self to the decision-making process.

The solution is to get the adult part of your brain to be the chief decision-maker.

in its proper place at the background of your psyche.

This process of bringing the adult to the forefront as your chief decision-maker might take some time to accomplish.

If you’ve been stuck for a while making the same bad choices, or if the choices you’ve been making are really problematic for you, it could mean that you’d do better with some help in this process.

Just like you wouldn’t want a five-year-old running your business, or a super-critical parent running your personal life, you need to have the best part of you in charge of all your choices.

You might want to engage the services of a coach, counselor or therapist to help you consolidate the rational, practical adult part of your brain as the one who’s making the important choices in your life.

The way to get the adult in the driver’s seat of your decision-making is to silence the critical, undermining parent-part of the brain and take responsibility for putting the child-part of the brain

Even if it takes some time, effort and expense, if it enables you to make the right kinds of choices -- ones who bring you happiness and success in your personal and professional life -- don’t you think it’s worth it?

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3 Simple Exercises to Invite the Extraordinary Life

By Guy Finley I can think of no greater encouragement than the self-evident Truth that there dwells in each of us the opportunity to explore and know the Extraordinary Life.

The meaning of Extraordinary I wish to convey points to the

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immutable and inexhaustible source that is the secret center of each of us: a timeless resource open and available to anyone who would seek this Life that sits behind life as we know it. Will we spend our lives in mere dreams of winning a limitless life, or will we do the inner- work of awakening from this dream?

Choosing the Extraordinary Life begins with our conscious work to realize it, which the following special practices help to ensure.

1. Let Nagging Questions Go Unanswered: In stressful moments, listen to what life is trying to tell you about you instead of searching anxiously for familiar answers to make life feel “right” again. All fearful, doubt-filled moments are secret reflections of what we have yet to understand about life and ourselves, not life’s rejection of us or our wish for happiness. Choose to go consciously quiet whenever there is a riot in you. Refuse to take part in the search to

repair what you fear may be coming undone. Let go and watch what happens when you consciously sacrifice the fear-filled self. This new action allows the Extraordinary Life to enter into you where its presence alone proves that all is well.

2. Don’t Make the Rescue Call: In times of anxiety and fear, we almost always call upon someone or something to help us get through our stress. This dependency on others for strength not only weakens our soul, but also steals from it the possibility of being educated by the Extraordinary Life, which means we miss two major lessons. First, the crucial lesson that all our fears are based upon false evidence that appears real. With this revelation comes our second realization that the same frightened self that seeks rescue secretly confirms its imagined condition as being real each time it cries out for help. Refusing to rescue

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ourselves from inner states that scare us invites the Extraordinary Life that shows us that no such scared self exists that needs saving.

3. Do the Thing You Fear Doing: There is a correct time and place for thinking through practical plans in the ordinary scheme of life’s events. But nothing that is founded in thought can serve to reveal the unthinkable plans that the Extraordinary holds in store for anyone willing to leap into the moment without a parachute. Never mind those old fears of falling. Just jump!

Being willing to risk failing is a prerequisite for fearless living. If you will take the leap into what you are afraid of doing, the Extraordinary Life will prove to you that Its unshakable ground is everywhere beneath you at all times. Nothing compares with this discovery because, once realized, there’s nowhere to go but up! A note of caution:

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taking a spiritual leap is far different from taking a reckless physical risk. Never risk the well being of your physical body for the sake of a passing thrill: for what is possible to attain with a body, cannot be without one. The temporary rush of adrenalin has nothing in common with one’s awakening to the reality of a timeless, fearless life.

(Excerpted from Let Go and Live in the Now published by Redwheel/Weiser, 2004) Director of the non-profit Life of Learning Foundation, Guy Finley is the best-selling author of more than 40 books and audio albums on selfrealization and higher success.

His works have sold over a million copies worldwide and have been translated into 24 languages. For more information please call (541) 476-1200 or visit http://www. guyfinley.com where you can also sign up to receive a free, weekly Key Lesson.

When you look at the view of Earth from space, you are immediately in awe of what you do see: the incredible beauty of Creation. It is not until you look closer that you realize what you do not see.

You do not see lines partitioning countries.

You do not see separation between races.

You do not see division between religions.

You do not see the walls people build to isolate themselves from each other.

There is only One Planet. There is only One Humanity.

This section is dedicated to introducing thoughts and ideas to foster a greater understanding of Humanity’s interdependence.

World Vision

ISRAELI WOMEN ON THE MARCH FOR PEACE

by Marguerite Dar Boggia

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For almost fifty years Palestine has been occupied by Israel.

After Israel’s war on Gaza in 2014, Israeli women started a movement to build connections with Palestinian women. They also reached out to women and men of many other religious and political backgrounds. They believed that war will never bring peace and security. They are mothers. They do not want their children killed. They realized that, only through a just

and viable solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict, can they express the potential of their society and country. They started a movement known as Women Wage Peace (WWP).

It is a grassroots movement of different ethnic, social, political, religious and also the geographic background. The movement has tens of thousands of members from the right, the center and the left of the political spectrum, Jews and Arabs, religious and secular. They have over 28,000 members in Israel with an additional 50,000 supporters world-wide. They are putting pressure on the leaders of Israel and Palestine to work towards a viable peace agreement. Their organized street demonstrations and their actions at junctions are impressive. They dress in white with a turquoise scarf.

WWP has as its basis two main objectives: To encourage peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and to urge the enforcement

of UN resolution 1325 which “reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts.�

On September 24, 2017, 30,000 Israeli and Palestinian women marched from Sderot in the Negev desert and passed through the territories to arrive in two weeks at the Jerusalem residence of Netanyahu, the President of Israel. The march included many who had been directly affected by the violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Western media is so controlled by the forces for the status quo that the march was practically ignored. The event in the Middle East was treated Omtimes.com

as insignificant since it was only started by women!

In past generations, the public was told who to hate, to wit: the Jews, the Italian ‘wops,’ the Niggers, the Japs, the Chinks, the Krauts, the Wetbacks and now it is the Moslems and ‘the Russians are our enemy.’ Today, people realize that it is not necessary to have an enemy for the politicians or the industrial/ military complex to retain power and to survive.

Women, today, are no longer the ‘weaker sex.’ They believe that goodwill is a more effective method for maintaining harmony, than violence, injustice and the superiority of race.

With the development of ‘free Omtimes.com

energy’ and the new technology, we can surpass ancient civilizations in magnificence.

This is our destiny when we work with the harmonious laws of the universe.

We are told on page 430 of the book: The Rays and the Initiations1 that in the maps of the spiritual Hierarchy, a dark cloud covers part of Europe and all of the Middle East. The ascended Tibetan Master D.K. asks: Can the wisdom of the US, the UK, and the United Nations be enough to avoid this disaster?

The Master Hilarion in the book Light on the Path,2 tells us to kill out separateness. We are one family, one humanity. He says: “Do not fancy you can stand ‘aside from the bad man. He is yourself, though in a less degree than your friend or your Master. But if you allow the idea of separateness from any evil thing or person to grow up within you, by so doing you create karma which will bind you to that thing or person

till your soul recognizes that it cannot be isolated. Remember that the sin and shame of the world are your sin and shame, for you are a part of it.”

In the future, the demonstrations worldwide by the younger generation will be to demand the end of wars, violence, religious bigotry, intolerance, racism, theft, greed, and self-interest. They will accept the new economic system prepared by the disciples of the Masters and will be ready for the “Golden Age” presaged by the Hindu and Zoroastrian sages.3 We are part of one humanity all striving to express the potential and goals of our Inner Self. Only

by SHARING THE RESOURCES of the earth can we prosper and fulfill our destiny. Science has now proven that all sub-atomic particles are interconnected.4 It is the true basis for brotherhood.

Marguerite Dar Boggia formerly served as Membership Secretary of ISAR, (the International Society for Astrological Research). She was past publisher of Kosmos, the ISAR Journal, as well as Secretary & Director of ISAR and UAC, (the United Astrology Congress). She is a co-founder of UAC and served

as its Registrar at the first UAC’86 conference. Her articles have appeared in many journals. Her goal is to cooperate with the Spiritual Hierarchy of our planet and to work for and to serve humanity.

She offers online FREE, three pages weekly of the Esoteric Studies as was known by Pythagoras and

by Plato. She can be reached at her website: www.FreePythagorasTeachings.com which she created at the age of 90: References: Bailey, Alice A. The Rays and the Initiations, Lucis Publishing Co. 1953, p. 430 2 Collins, Mabel The Light on the Path, The Theosophical Publishing House 1911, p.1 3 Dar Boggia, Marguerite The Forthcoming Golden Age under articles on my website: www.

FreePythagorasTeachings.com 4Dar Boggia, Marguerite Quantum Entanglement under articles of my website.

1

30,000 Israelis, Palestinians take part in Women Wage Peace rally in Women Wage Peace Wikipedia Women Wage Peace, but who knew? – Middle East Monitor Omtimes.com

Books

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MAGAZINE

February B 2018 Contributors Writers Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac. Ascendinghearts Barbara Heider-Rauter Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD Cathedral of the Soul Deborah Kevin Guy Finley John Holland Kartar Diamond Kristin Grayce McGary Linda Bloom Marcia Sirota MD Marguerite dar Boggia Maria Khalife

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