Awakening

 

My Experience with Conventional Medicine

This post was challenging for me to express, because it explores the traumatising experience I suffered through conventional medicine as a young girl. Writing about the memory brought up a range of emotions, from abandonment, neglect, and hopelessness. Therefore, I am glad that I wrote it. Those emotions, which were lingering inside my body have finally had the chance to be freed, I hope this post will aid in freeing others.

Th desire to write about this event arose recently, after being referred to the doctor reluctantly by a naturopath. I used to have the perfect skin, I mean the glistening, shining, clear and radiant type. I never worried, nor did I understand the frustration and grief that skin problems could cause other people. Because I had it easy. 

 PHOTOS OF SKIN FOUR YEARS AGO

However, about 2 years ago, I started to experience break-outs. They were small at first, just one, here or there, every now and then, nothing I couldn't handle. About one year ago, there was never a moment where I didn't have problems with my face. Three months ago my sister and I decided that the breakouts on my skin were now  classed as acne. My breakouts were painful, they seemed to get worse with one glass of alcohol or sugar, which caused me further frustration and stress.

I made the decision to see a Naturopath, in fact, I can't believe I hadn't taken action sooner. There is a student clinic where I go to college in Brisbane at the Endeavour College of Natural Health. Students can get advice for as little as $15 dollars, so the universe had made it easy for me, really.

Questions were asked mainly around my diet and medical history. Due to my previous health history with my ovaries, and heavy periods, they assumed it was hormonal straight away. The Naturopath decided it was best to get a doctor's advice on the diagnosis, and wrote me a letter to give to the doctor. I already had what I needed to start looking for my cure and begin healing, the key word, hormonal. However, I was interested in following it up. So I booked an appointment in with my GP.

Before I describe the unsatisfactory consultation with my doctor the other day, let me explain to you how conventional medicine failed me for the very first time at the tender age of twelve, and how this failure resulted in the death, and removal, of my right ovary and fallopian tube.

When I was twelve years old, a grade seven student, I began to experience unusual stabbing pain in the lower right side of my abdomen. The pain wasn't hard to manage to begin with, and it would come and go maybe once a month. By the middle of the year the pain I was experiencing had doubled. I was in great amounts of distress, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night screaming for my mother who would rush me to the closest hospital. This pain would come about every two weeks. The night-staff doctors wanted little to do with me. Despite repeated visits complaining of intense pain, which, even as a twelve year old, I knew in my soul was not natural, the doctors would tell my mother that I was constipated, and sent me home with pain killers. This repeated for the next three months. There was one night doctor who did mention that it could be a cyst on my ovary, but refused to arrange a scan for me because of my age. I knew that I needed a scan, and I asked for one, but they never arranged it. One day, my pain reached a turning point, I could not longer move, I could only scream, the pain felt like it was vibrating as an invading pulse within every cell on my body. I couldn't even manage to feel the pressure of clothes against my body and lay naked, unable to move, in a fetal position on the bathroom floor. This time my mother knew she had to try a different approach and booked me in with a doctor, whom, reacted similarly to those that had seen me before, treating my pain as a a joke.

"Are you sure you aren't exaggerating?" They'd ask me. I could barely muster the willpower to reply, my body instinctively wanted to curl up into a ball. 

The doctor decided to operate for appendicitis, grudgingly.

When I was finally opened up, what they found would shock them all. My ovary and fallopian tube were dead inside, now turning black and rotten. The cyst on my ovary had not burst, instead it grew so large that it became too heavy for my little ovary and twisted it, blocking off circulation to the ovary and fallopian tube. I lost a part of my femininity that day and I will never forget it. If someone had taken the time to arrange a scan, I might still have all of myself with me today.

We go to the doctors, but do we ever really leave healthier than when we went? Do we receive guidance on how to be the best version of ourselves? How to avoid getting sick? Perhaps we are satisfied with scans and tests that confirm we don't have terminal cancer. 

I went to the doctor the other day for the first time in years, and it turned out to be not just futile, as I imagined, but actually insane. First of all I was told to go on the pill, which I label as the 'infertility' pill to try and clear my skin, as well as to go on fake iron to increase my levels. I tried to explain how my skin was clearing with Maca powder and that I was uncomfortable with going on the pill. To that she told me not to believe that the maca was working because there was no evidence for it. I left with a script likely to make me more toxic than when I walked in. When I seek out health advice I seek out how to increase my vitality, energy and radiance, not how to put more strain on my liver.

The consultation has left me with nothing but enthusiasm to go out there and find ways to cure my anemia and skin-health naturally. Looking back to my past, and forward to my future it is becoming clear to me that my previous loss and the current hardships that I am presented with, are only opportunities to better my health, and alleviate the frustrations of those who suffer just as I have.

Discover Your Own Journey With Crystals

Crystals have been used as healing tools for thousands of years and have always been a part of the 4.6 billion-year-old mother earth. So the first mistake of society is to label them new age. Being formed by the very earth, and energy, we were all formed from, it is no secret to many people the power they hold, and can pass onto you. Most people delight in crystals, whether they are aware of their healing properties or not. My guidance to pass on, is to trust your own intuition with crystals, when you choose, or are drawn to a certain crystal, it has come to you for some sort of purpose, wishing to work with you through your fears, struggles, sadness and heaviness.

Like the sun, same as the water, as with the grass, the animals and you, crystals are also alive and filled with the energy of consciousness. Crystals amplify the energy of watches, televisions and radio among other things, one of those being you. They work with universal energy and the energy in your own body which comes under many different names, chi, prana, or even love. Crystal's are your friends and only want to help you.

WHAT ARE CRYSTALS?

Crystals are used for:

Modern technology for boosts 

Decor

Healing

Ingredients in beauty products 

Connection to angels and guides

Magnifying vibratory energy

Communication enhancers

Medical Instruments

Crystals are connected with:

Ancient Wisdom and Records

Nature

Spiruts

Elemental realms 

Nature angels

Crystals contain:

Spiritual and evolutionary history of earth
Energy
Information
Power

SACRED GEOMETRY

Sacred geometry reflects beautiful mathematics that explains the perfection of the universe. Basic mathematical symmetries found in music and physical form were originally discovered by Pythagoras, who then went on to discover three key shapes in matter: the tetrahedron, the hexahedron, and the dodecahedron. This shows that matter is built upon perfect forms compromised of equilateral polygons. Plato discovered two additional shapes, the octahedron and the isosahedron. He later linked the designated shapes with the elements earth, fire, water, air, the fifth shape represents spirit. These forms are repeated in everything from snowflakes to DNA strands, humans, planetary movements and your chair. I encourage you to further read how heaven and earth have come together to produce crystals for us through sacred geometry.

BENEFITS AND WISDOM OF CRYSTALS

Although different crystals work on different areas,  here are some general, exciting benefits you can look forward too:

Increased memory

Increased energy

Ease of Breathe

Ease of Movement

Alleviation of Pain

Clarity

Positivity
Awareness of Self-Power and Purpose 

Opening of Spiritual Channels and Awareness

Reconnection to Mother Earth

Increased Sensitivity to Timeless Knowledge

I DON'T FEEL ANYTHING 

Crystals are working I assure you. If you don't notice or feel the benefits at first here are some points to understand. At first, the crystal may have started clearing thought patterns, memories, and beliefs that do not serve you anymore. This may assist you in making a better decision, having a better conversation with someone, or thinking towards situations differently tomorrow. It may be too small to notice at first but eventually you will see a chain reaction of success in the area you need assistance with.Depending on what your desire is, you may begin to feel the energy of the crystal working through your energy body. You may also begin to develop your higher intuitive and psychic senses.

 

Awaken Your Innate Charisma Through Yoga and Ayurveda

Ayurveda and Yoga are two holistic healing systems with over a century’s gathered knowledge for balancing the human mind, spirit and body; which will be discussed in this essay. Ayurveda is a whole and complete healing system which examines a person’s dosha constitution, to help identify potential causes of illness and imbalance. Yoga is an older practice, which aims to still the mind and create awareness of the body through postures known as asanas. Ayurvedic medicine incorporates Yoga as one of the methods used for cleansing, balancing and maintaining the body’s natural health. Each system is powerful as a stand-alone technique in manifesting optimum health, and due to their similar philosophies on health and disease they are effective when used together.

         Ayurvedic Medicine has its beginnings marked over 3000 years ago (Vyas & Warren, 2000, p.12). Knowledge was passed down from 52 Indian sages, known as the Rishis, who wished to bring about the end of illness on the earth (Vyas & Warren, 2000, p.4-5). Their knowledge was transmitted verbally from teacher to student for thousands of years, until it was transcribed in Sanskrit as poetry (Lad, 1990, p.21). The first text created, recorded the principles of the Ayurvedic system and is known as the ‘Charaka Samhitta’ (Godagama, 2001, p.19). In 1500BC, nomads traveling from Central Asia brought Yoga, a practise involving knowledge on how to still the mind and control the body with them to the Indian sub-continent. That’s boasting approximately 3500 years of knowledge. (Schops, 2010, p.6-12).

       Considering that both of these ancient therapies have survived history and continue to be practiced today is a testimony to their effectiveness. Time has only embellished the evolution of the practices through innovative technology and philosophies. Ayurvedic medicine is presently considered “complementary” medicine in most Western countries however; it is still widespread in India, with an estimated 80 percent of the population using it exclusively, or analogous to western medicine (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2009). The Indian government continues to fund research in the area with access to modern techniques and equipment (Dash, 1975, p.18). However, it is Yoga that has truly undergone rapid transformation. Yogi’s have developed different styles and methods of practicing Yoga, promising to rapidly develop specific benefits. Hatha Yoga developed (800-1200AD) helps one achieve enlightenment through training the body (Schops, 2010, p.13). Kundalini Yoga (1930-2004) aims to target the snake energy resting in a person’s base chakra, helping it to rise and eliminate blocks in the body. Bikram Yoga (1946) is done in a heated room briskly detoxing the body.

        Ayurveda is a way of living (Ayu) meaning living and (Veda) meaning science or knowledge. Together the words mean “The Science of life” (Dash, 1975, p.v). It is a holistic healing system that treats the mind, body and spirit as one. Ayurveda’s philosophy on health, is the oldest example of “prevention is better than cure”. Instead of focusing on illness, Ayurveda prevents the body from falling out of balance through treatments such as detoxification (Panchakarma), and purification (Rasayana). This spirited balance allows development of trust in the body’s natural intelligence, aiding interpretation of symptoms to develop an evolved sense natural vitality (Vyas & Warren, 2000, p.6). Ayurveda and Yoga both employ this philosophy, which is why Yoga is stressed as part of the Ayurvedic way of life. Yoga focuses on bringing the mind body and spirit into balance, through asanas, controlled breathing and meditation. Once all stress is relieved and poses can be held with ease all obstacles in the way of achieving peace of mind have been removed (Schops, 2010, p.6).

        Universal consciousness is the very heart of Ayurvedic medicine, its manifestation through the elements should work together in balance within the body to generate optimum health and vitality. Yoga also adopts a similar view, teaching that well-being results in clear perception, and conscious (Schops, 2010, p.6). Ayurveda communicates that, accumulated toxins (ama) are the root of all disease (Lad, 1990, p.40). Allowing the body to naturally heal by producing and excreting waste products: such as urine, feces, and sweat at normal levels prevent this accumulation (Lad, 1990, p.37) Yoga speeds up the process of eliminating toxins from the physical and energetic body, allowing energy to run freely through the energy channels and major energy centres (chakras) (Schops, 2010, p.33). This is why Ayurvedic medicine and Yoga are effective alternatives to pharmacological cures, because they prevent the build-up of toxins that lead to disease in the first place (Dash, 1975, p.viii)

        Yoga is one of the many modalities harnessed in Ayurvedic medicine to bring about balance, unity and purity of the body. Their similar philosophies on balance, and unity make them ideal in working together to establish a sense of well-being. Both Ayurveda and Yoga acknowledge the energy centres in our body. They also testify to the fact that our bodies cannot run as smoothly when there is energy centres that are blocked, or have built up (ama) within them. Through their own methods, they both decrease the body’s toxins; providing an ideal way of living that prevents unrest.

         Health is the body’s natural state, and should not be difficult to maintain, or impossible to achieve without the intervention of drugs that we have only recently created. We are entitled to health; it is our natural state where we encompass abundant energy to bring our ideas and dreams into full actualised reality despite all the negativity and hardships we may encounter along the way. When a balance of energy is maintained in our body, we have the mental clarity to rid old, and unwanted patterns in our life that no longer serve our life purpose; allowing for the new to enter. It is only when we become unbalanced and blocked that we allow disease to take over the bodies systems that are innately equipped to deal with most bacteria and infections.

         Ayurveda and Yoga are one of the many holistic healing systems that allow a person to keep their own mental, spiritual and physical health in check. When the self is known, Ayurveda and Yoga certainly provide the tools to apply to ourselves in a way that increases vitality, well-being, motivation while decreasing your likelihood of falling into a state of low energy and negativity. Using Ayurvedic methods to calculate your own constitution, allows you to placate the over or underactive energies in your body. Yoga will aid in releasing emotional blocks through breath and postures; eventually leading to a quiet mind that is capable of great intelligence and quality of thought. By balancing yourself through incorporating these techniques into your regime, you will bring about your natural charisma eventually awakening your innate potential. 
 

References

Dash, V.B1975, Ayurveda For Mother & Child, Dehli Diary, New Dehli.
Godagama, S 2001, The Handbook of Ayurveda, Kyle Cathe Limited, London.
Lad, V 1990, Ayurveda: The science of Self-Healing, Lotus Press, WI
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1998, Ayurvedic Medicine: An Introduction 2009, viewed 24 January 2013
<http://nccam.nih.gov/health/ayurveda/introduction.htm>.
Schops, I 2010, Yoga, Paragon Books, United Kingdom.
Vyas, B & Warren, J 2000, Simply Ayurveda: Discover Your Type to Transform Your Life, Harper Collins, London.

 

  Binaural Beats and Isotones

“I have the amazing ability to clearly communicate my wisdom to others.”  
– Kris Carr’s affirmation for day 13

Day 13 Weigh In: 76.5kg’s 

I’M SO EXCITED ALL THE TIME!

Looks like the weight is falling off again.  It’s not the main point of this adventure but I am certainly not complaining. Went to gym today for a 30 minute weight session and 20 minute run. I hit the sauna for 15 minutes afterward and I feel amazing.

Tomorrow is a new day as well, imagine that? Blessed.

Have you been meditating?

Meditation is a great practice to develop. What could be the harm in quieting your mind, to feel what it’s like to be gently inside your body. If you don’t notice effects straight away, please don’t be discouraged – keep at it, and slowly you will become a master of knowing your true self. If you find it too hard to quiet your mind, some people find it easy to start off with concentrating solely on music . In the end, the silence becomes your music, and every sound that is born into existence around you sends shivers of pleasure up your spine, because you realise it's pure energy forming out of nowhere. I’m not exaggerating. Try starting off with some binaural  beats, or isotones (get some for free at this website), most people will notice a strange sensation wash over their body when listening to these sounds – never be alarmed, just let it happen.

If you want to get started on meditating I recommended isotones. I currently use those to kick-start my meditation sessions. Binaural beats are proven to be more effective, however, you must listen to these with headphones as their success lies in dispersing a different frequency out of right and left speakers to emulate a certain brain frequency.

BENEFITS OF BINAURAL BEAT MEDITATION?

Have said t increase: IQ

Aid weight-loss

Calm nerves and anxiety

Aid in reversing depression

Awaken inner awareness and motivation

Open your heart to love!

But hey, I’m not  a scientist, I just participate because it feels amazing and I notice benefits, give it a go for yourself!

Thanks for reading,

 If you enjoy my blog I would love it if you could scroll down and become a member (you only need a Google, twitter, or yahoo account) Spread the love, light, wisdom, and health to everyone! It's up to you and me! 

Yoga time?

“I love how wonderful I feel and I am so incredibly proud of myself, right now, today.”  

–Kris Carr’s affirmation for day 11

Mushrooms, spinach, homus, peppers, nuttelex, vegan mayo, lettuce,
gluten free tortilla wraps, cucumbers, apples, organic honey, purple carrots,
Rice Bran oil (Good cooking oil)  

Snow peas, olive oil, prunes, cous cous, lettuce, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms,
Brussels sprouts, pears, miso soup, vegan noodles, mung beans, cucumber

Day 11 Weigh In: 78.0 kg’s 

So I seem to have hit a bit of a weight loss stump – my weight has gone up in the past 3 days, but I certainly feel lighter, and look lighter. Ugh, does anyone else hate this cold weather? Keeping my bedroom window shut makes me sneeze! Apart from that, I haveexperienced a great improvement in my sinuses.

Mood: Bright as

Motivation: Through the roof

 Over the detox blues? Perhaps. I am so excited all the time I can barely keep it inside – but when I do keep it inside it’s just as lovely to feel all the positive emotions swirling around in there. It feels like my heart is getting bigger and bigger, I can love stronger and harder, and I am not afraid of the consequences that may bring either. There can be no downside to an open heart. My writing is coming much easier, especially where related to assignments. My mind is much more focused on the topic, as well as enthusiastic about it, enthusiasm creates that spark in my writing, making it flow better.

Benefits I am feeling?

• Less day dreaming: Face it, this can be nice before you go to bed, but an escapist like myself can spend way too much time in the head, therefore missing all the beauty of the moment or automatically rendering it insufficient for my happiness

• Laughter: I positively seem to enjoy everyone’s humor without any walls getting in the way – humor that is relevant to my level of understanding that is.
• Love: I have way too much love to give today

• Peace of mind: Every activity I engage in, I focus on fully, slowly, and with compassion, the days just keep getting better

 I’m not missing sugar or animal product at all, and my energy levels feel amazing! I may not have to add some eggs back into the diet after all which I am so happy for. If you try this diet and find that no animal product is wearing you out by this stage, add minimal back in to see how you go, not all bodies are made for simply green living. I am going tell my body how grateful I am for its capacity to keep me so alive on a cruelty free diet.

My house-mate bought a new yoga dvd. Since I have mastered the other one I am looking forward to doing the same with the new one. It’s much harder, I am going to be one balanced cookie by the end of it. The previous Yoga dvd that started off my journey was called "Yoga with Amy". Take a look at her website. Amy is gentle, and has a soothing voice, you can simply feel her inner-awareness radiating out, I highly recommend her. 

Now I am out to master "Michelle Merrifield's Yoga + Pilates"while this DVD involves more advanced balance training - which I am looking forward to, Michelle brings more of a "Pilates" instructor vibe to the DVD, talks loud, fast, and high pitched which easily distracts me from my meditative zone. Give her a go though if you are looking to get started

 

 A New Approach

Fear of failure, perfection anxiety, social disharmony, and avoidance have ruled your thought patterns long enough.

Let’s try for a week to stop looking at our failures, and instead record our successes, however small they may be.

Setting goals, and recording when you have succeeded, whilst acknowledging and praising yourself is one of the most powerful ways to bring more power back into your life. It gives you time to focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t. If you are an anxious or depressed person, days and nights can all swirl into a blur, becoming one big meaningless mess. It becomes hard to determine how it ever wasn’t meaningless, why it isn’t meaningless, or if it ever won’t be meaningless. Your mind has pulled you under water, lead you into a trap, and every new day spent trying to swim through all the emotions and thoughts further aid your feeling of hopelessness. Here is where it becomes important to understand that even if everything outside is beyond your control, you can at least take control of yourself and feel something amazing again.

Take it slow to begin with; the best bet is always to make sure you are healthy so you have plenty of energy to tackle the goals that will follow. See, wanting to get fit and add some exercise into your everyday routine is going to be hard if you are they type that finds it hard to get out of bed till after noon. Notice how any of your current habits may be blocking your goal success and try and break them with new ones that make you feel happier, confident, and more powerful. This is to make sure that we do our best to succeed in any goals we may set.

Go ahead and set a goal you know you can do tomorrow to add meaning and positivity to your day. 

If you are going to work, don’t focus on the fact that you hate the job and your day is going to be miserable, instead focus on what you can do to make it better for yourself, or for someone else, because it is true that compassion will help bring you happiness. Even if your goal is as simple as talking to a co-worker and sharing conversation with them, when you achieve it and set out to do what you said you were going to, you will feel more powerful and positive about your day, making you more eager to try again the next day, and the day after that!

Record everything that makes you smile! Go out and buy a note-book so you can decorate it with anything you value, such as your friends, your interests or your goals! Every day write down when someone says something good about you and try and give them a meaningful compliment in return.  

Write down the tiniest and simplest thing you create, like a new recipe, a new song, a new drawing. Make this book a place to read everything you have felt positive about achieving. Also turn it into a place to record progress towards current goals. You will see that the more that you achieve, and remember you have achieved, the more you may learn about yourself and what you want out of your life. 

Remember to shake off your failures, and forget the days you didn’t quite get through everything you intended to and tell yourself that you will do better next time. 

Motivating yourself is a skill to build upon and the less you worry about not being able to achieve the things you want in life, the less you avoid becoming fearful of your desires. Fear of your desires and dreams comes from your rooted belief you will never get them, and therefore should settle with something else, something less, something meaningless to you. 

So don’t be afraid to dream, and encourage yourself every day to dream, even if it’s just a little.

 

 

Don't Be a Walking Reaction

Do you feel empty? Alone? Are you, for some reason beyond your grasp, unable to truly connect with people? Most of us can relate to these issues. We understand how easy it is to become negative, depressed, and hateful. We may also relate to what it feels like to finally give up on everything, including yourself. It’s a typical reaction to say you have been hurt before, and, it seems much easier to stop trying. It's easier to think everyone else should be putting in all the effort. After all, everyone else should change to try and work out a relationship with you, you’re the one that is absolutely perfect. 

At least with this mindset you are not taking any risks. 

You do however continue to complain about all your previous friends that were horrible, or all the ex-boyfriends that were just jerks. In fact, you may extend this thinking to the whole human-race, blame them, or make excuses. The real issue here is that you are unaware of just how hard it is for any human-being to actually get close to, and know the real you. 

Already angry with the words I have written? Are you already coming up with a million reasons why this isn’t what is actually happening in your situation? Telling yourself you’ve just had a stream of bad luck in the past with everyone that you got involved with? Or have you actually progressed to the next stage where you do acknowledge this is the truth but simply choose to brush it off?

“Yeah, I am defensive; I am hard to get to know. But I have just been hurt before, and therefore everyone is going to have to make effort for me, if they can’t understand that I have been hurt in the past and will need continuous validation, and, the go-ahead to act horrible, snarky, and defensive when I perceive a threat to my ego, then I don't think their worth being friends with”

Are you worth being friends with if you treat other people like that? Stop and think about it for a second.

The truth is if you are unable to acknowledge what I am writing then it’s okay to keep your walls up till a later date when you are ready to bring them down. But if you are happy with that sort of standard in your life then realize your relationships are never really going to fulfill you, nor will others be willing to open up to you either. If you can’t do anything else, at least stop complaining to the people in your life about the fact people are 'shit', or you are just going to push them away as well, and we don’t need you to take any more ill-perceived blows to your fragile ego.

As hard as it may be to take responsibility for yourself and your actions, I have to tell you a bit of shocking news. Everyone has been through some kind of trauma, because the mind naturally creates drama no matter who you are. Ever heard of first world problems? When you complain that your phone is playing up a little bit, or that you don’t have enough clothes, when in reality, other people may not even posses these items at all?

The difference between the person who makes excuses, and someone who takes responsibility for their life, is that they aren’t choosing to act like an entitled child about their problems by insisting that other people are responsible for, or should fix them, instead those people chose to develop a healthier mindset somewhere along the way, or had some help with it. It became clear to their mind, and their ego, that they weren’t a defenseless little child anymore. Therefore it became okay for them to open up to people. If you have a healthy set of boundaries for yourself about who you let into your life you will have an easier time creating mutual-trust. With mutual-trust created between people who are; worthy of your time, or a special place in your heart, no longer will you feel the need to lash out at tiny little things they do that upset you, as you will naturally begin to discern between who has good intentions for you, and who doesn’t with much more ease. And even if a rogue does sometimes slip through the cracks, that’s okay, because your mind will be smart enough to realize that; yes - you may be hurting - but - you are still an amazing person. It accepts the fact you have no control over how someone decides to treat you, or act, and if you consistently feel that hurt in your chest from someone then you actually have the power to walk away. Wow! It seems so simple, but for some reason so many of us are conditioned from a young age to feel powerless.

So, let’s talk about your ego, the place where all these defense-mechanisms began.

Your ego is created by your mind. It is made up of all the little things that your brain associates with being you. Your ego - or your mind’s - first priority is to protect your sense of self – this can be why we are so blind to how we appear to others. Your mind simply just will not let you, it seeks to protect you and when you feel threatened or upset, it decides to put certain boundaries into place, or walls, that protect you from what is  making your heart feel anger, sadness, or grief (a threat). For a healthy person, these boundaries could be walking away. But for someone with low self-esteem (someone who is naturally not in touch with themselves) they may choose to lash out instead and demand to be validated. These people become increasingly adverse to trusting people. They also seem to start all relationships off with  the concept “guilty till you prove your innocence”. The fact that they come to expect this behavior from others, means that they also start to believe they will never get any better anyway, so they repress their need for love and choose to interact on superficial instead. 

Most people grow up with relatively healthy ego’s. However, the problems can start very early on in childhood. I'm going to give you one example, but, there are many  times your mind perceived your emotions as a threat and tried to close off, for every different age and situation. Let’s say as a young child you felt unloved by your parents, lonely, or unworthy. At that young age with no defenses in place those emotions would have been simply overwhelming. When we were children we did not always deal with these emotions in a calm and rational way, nor did we perceive hurts in a rational way either. How could we? We were only children, it was not our fault that our heart told us that we felt lonely or unloved, that was simply the heart doing its job in trying to bring to our attention that one of our most basic needs weren’t being met. This may have made us cry, shout, scream, and act entitled or infuriated when we didn’t get our way, and by acting this way our parents may have not perceived that it was actually more  love and care we were screaming for. As children, we had no way of using a logical adult mind to express why we had all this bitterness and anger, and in an attempt to quiet us down in times our parents were stressed or simply could not muster up the energy to deal with us, they gave-in and gave us what we wanted, such as toys to fuel our insatiable boredom which was actually born from inner turmoil and emptiness. This taught our ego at a young age – before we were cognitively able to understand our emotions – that by closing up, yelling, acting viciously, we were able to attain something that helped us forget about how empty we felt on the inside. The ego was happy therefore you were happy. And please don't go blaming your parents either, they had their own reasons for why they weren't a completely perfect human-being that understood all facets of the human mind.

As we get older we do start to learn that maybe crying and yelling aren’t the best tools to use with some of our friends, but really, we still have ill-equipped methods to deal with conflicts to begin with, so we create new ones that aren't going to be useful for very long. This is because from such a young age we learn not to listen to our heart – we learn to listen to our mind instead. This type of entitled behavior is not coming from a bad place, it’s coming from a defensive place, and although we may develop new strategies to cope as a teenager and young adult, if we don’t get to the root of the dilemma it’s all going to end up coming across as that person we have all known, have all met, or have even been, the defensive witch. This person is angry and empty because they are so out of touch with their emotions and themselves. They continue to justify their negative attitude and anger towards people due to the fact they have been hurt in the past. What they don’t realise is, they have now become the exact person their ego is trying to protect them against, someone who is irrational, lashes out, blames all their friends and the world for their problems, consistently argues, and looks to only the physical to make themselves feel better. They have not learned to forgive.

Ever met someone that was so beautiful – but never satisfied? They may work out hours at the gym, or starve themselves to look better when things just don’t work out because they believe this is the only possible way anyone will ever love them. When everything still goes wrong, and people are still repelled they can only think “what is wrong with me?”. Girls may dull the pain of rejection by trying to get thinner, boys may try to feel big and strong or go out and consistently seek sex from different females, but eventually this person has to realize that there is something missing in their lives. What is missing is their connection to their heart. It’s hard to open up your heart to someone who can’t even open it up to themselves isn’t it? You try to connect with them but find that they are just consistently unhappy with you or their situation, or are never satisfied with the current moment you're in together. They can’t just be. They have to become, always, whether it’s thinner, more intoxicated or more loved. 

If this is you, I am sure your ego is doing a million and one things to protect yourself right now, and protect your sense of self. But please realize that all those thoughts, all these actions, and all the defenses you have put into place are not actually you. You are actually just scared of opening up and being hurt, you have been since you were a child, or that first time your ego  decided it would be easier to deal with your emotions by building defenses, making excuses for yourself, and blaming others. You should also take comfort in this, because even though it may be hard or a long road to take, you can become that amazingly beautiful and radiant person that only creates joy and harmony in relationships with other people. Don’t you want to be that person, finally? Don’t you want to be released from your mind and filled with the beauty of your emotions and the light of your own soul?

Once you take the first steps to removing that barrier, you take the first steps in becoming a person of absolutely high value – you are no longer taking value from other people by being a walking reaction to everything others say and do, you are becoming a genuine and authentic human being in who is in touch with themselves.

What you may believe: I just love to argue

What others believe: That you would rather have a conversation validating yourself instead of truly connecting.

So what if they think that? It’s their perception. You don’t need them as a friend if they choose to look at you that way instead of getting to know you right?

True. But only true from your perspective. If you are currently satisfied with the kind of friends in your life that you can continue to have negative conversations with then I guess you don’t really need to be reading this article. Oh but wait, you are reading this. 

There will be good people entering your life all the time, and they will continue to. Don’t be threatened by them or try to bring them down, be with them, you are worthy enough to be with them. If they are the type of person that only wants to take from you, example; using your conversations to validate themselves, then set boundaries for yourself and choose to hang around those who would rather contribute to their own life and yours. 

I am not saying that walking around with an air of arrogance and negativity won’t bring some people you consider friends into your life, however, they will either be people with extremely low self-esteem that may only drag you down when you begin to progress in your life, or they are people with just as many walls up as you, people who make excuses, people who hate their life, and blame others. 

This type of self-progression is not meant to be used instead of medication if you really need it. You may be someone who has suppressed themselves and their emotions in an attempt to appear perfect, strong willed, or in control for so long that your mind is so confused about who you are that you simply cannot get out of it without some help. Or your brain chemistry (unluckily) has thrown you into this state. But if you really do need medication, there is NO EXCUSE, to walk around a mess and refuse to take it. Medication may also start to change your view point and your state of mind into a place where you can be more in touch with your emotions. It may also make your mind clearer and progress you to a place where you  find it easier to process cognitive-intellect and self-awareness. But please keep in mind, so much of that can be achieved through trying to eliminate your anxiety in other way such as meditating, sleeping well, eating healthily, and exercising. Also by cutting the crap in your life, people, lovers, food and wasteful pastimes.

Learning to open up and take responsibility doesn’t happen overnight. Nor have I become the new Buddha of this planet. But by taking these steps, and first having awareness of what you are doing in your life that is becoming toxic to others, you are ready to take the journey into inner-happiness. Also if you have friends who that might be interested in becoming better people, whom you trust and know have good intentions, perhaps you can both point out to each other when you aren't being your genuine self.

In my following posts I will begin to start off with ways you can become more self-aware and conscious in your every day and relationships with people. The biggest thing I can mention to you now is that confidence is the biggest factor to hauling yourself out of this protective state. With true and radiant confidence, that only comes from inside sources, not outside, you can start to blossom into wonderful person who has high standards for themselves and for the people you choose to get involved with. You hold the key, it's really that simple.

Read more »

 

My Experience with Conventional Medicine

This post was challenging for me to express, because it explores the traumatising experience I suffered through conventional medicine as a young girl. Writing about the memory brought up a range of emotions, from abandonment, neglect, and hopelessness. Therefore, I am glad that I wrote it. Those emotions, which were lingering inside my body have finally had the chance to be freed, I hope this post will aid in freeing others.

Th desire to write about this event arose recently, after being referred to the doctor reluctantly by a naturopath. I used to have the perfect skin, I mean the glistening, shining, clear and radiant type. I never worried, nor did I understand the frustration and grief that skin problems could cause other people. Because I had it easy. 

 PHOTOS OF SKIN FOUR YEARS AGO

However, about 2 years ago, I started to experience break-outs. They were small at first, just one, here or there, every now and then, nothing I couldn't handle. About one year ago, there was never a moment where I didn't have problems with my face. Three months ago my sister and I decided that the breakouts on my skin were now  classed as acne. My breakouts were painful, they seemed to get worse with one glass of alcohol or sugar, which caused me further frustration and stress.

I made the decision to see a Naturopath, in fact, I can't believe I hadn't taken action sooner. There is a student clinic where I go to college in Brisbane at the Endeavour College of Natural Health. Students can get advice for as little as $15 dollars, so the universe had made it easy for me, really.

Questions were asked mainly around my diet and medical history. Due to my previous health history with my ovaries, and heavy periods, they assumed it was hormonal straight away. The Naturopath decided it was best to get a doctor's advice on the diagnosis, and wrote me a letter to give to the doctor. I already had what I needed to start looking for my cure and begin healing, the key word, hormonal. However, I was interested in following it up. So I booked an appointment in with my GP.

Before I describe the unsatisfactory consultation with my doctor the other day, let me explain to you how conventional medicine failed me for the very first time at the tender age of twelve, and how this failure resulted in the death, and removal, of my right ovary and fallopian tube.

When I was twelve years old, a grade seven student, I began to experience unusual stabbing pain in the lower right side of my abdomen. The pain wasn't hard to manage to begin with, and it would come and go maybe once a month. By the middle of the year the pain I was experiencing had doubled. I was in great amounts of distress, sometimes waking up in the middle of the night screaming for my mother who would rush me to the closest hospital. This pain would come about every two weeks. The night-staff doctors wanted little to do with me. Despite repeated visits complaining of intense pain, which, even as a twelve year old, I knew in my soul was not natural, the doctors would tell my mother that I was constipated, and sent me home with pain killers. This repeated for the next three months. There was one night doctor who did mention that it could be a cyst on my ovary, but refused to arrange a scan for me because of my age. I knew that I needed a scan, and I asked for one, but they never arranged it. One day, my pain reached a turning point, I could not longer move, I could only scream, the pain felt like it was vibrating as an invading pulse within every cell on my body. I couldn't even manage to feel the pressure of clothes against my body and lay naked, unable to move, in a fetal position on the bathroom floor. This time my mother knew she had to try a different approach and booked me in with a doctor, whom, reacted similarly to those that had seen me before, treating my pain as a a joke.

"Are you sure you aren't exaggerating?" They'd ask me. I could barely muster the willpower to reply, my body instinctively wanted to curl up into a ball. 

The doctor decided to operate for appendicitis, grudgingly.

When I was finally opened up, what they found would shock them all. My ovary and fallopian tube were dead inside, now turning black and rotten. The cyst on my ovary had not burst, instead it grew so large that it became too heavy for my little ovary and twisted it, blocking off circulation to the ovary and fallopian tube. I lost a part of my femininity that day and I will never forget it. If someone had taken the time to arrange a scan, I might still have all of myself with me today.

We go to the doctors, but do we ever really leave healthier than when we went? Do we receive guidance on how to be the best version of ourselves? How to avoid getting sick? Perhaps we are satisfied with scans and tests that confirm we don't have terminal cancer. 

I went to the doctor the other day for the first time in years, and it turned out to be not just futile, as I imagined, but actually insane. First of all I was told to go on the pill, which I label as the 'infertility' pill to try and clear my skin, as well as to go on fake iron to increase my levels. I tried to explain how my skin was clearing with Maca powder and that I was uncomfortable with going on the pill. To that she told me not to believe that the maca was working because there was no evidence for it. I left with a script likely to make me more toxic than when I walked in. When I seek out health advice I seek out how to increase my vitality, energy and radiance, not how to put more strain on my liver.

The consultation has left me with nothing but enthusiasm to go out there and find ways to cure my anemia and skin-health naturally. Looking back to my past, and forward to my future it is becoming clear to me that my previous loss and the current hardships that I am presented with, are only opportunities to better my health, and alleviate the frustrations of those who suffer just as I have.

Discover Your Own Journey With Crystals

Crystals have been used as healing tools for thousands of years and have always been a part of the 4.6 billion-year-old mother earth. So the first mistake of society is to label them new age. Being formed by the very earth, and energy, we were all formed from, it is no secret to many people the power they hold, and can pass onto you. Most people delight in crystals, whether they are aware of their healing properties or not. My guidance to pass on, is to trust your own intuition with crystals, when you choose, or are drawn to a certain crystal, it has come to you for some sort of purpose, wishing to work with you through your fears, struggles, sadness and heaviness.

Like the sun, same as the water, as with the grass, the animals and you, crystals are also alive and filled with the energy of consciousness. Crystals amplify the energy of watches, televisions and radio among other things, one of those being you. They work with universal energy and the energy in your own body which comes under many different names, chi, prana, or even love. Crystal's are your friends and only want to help you.

WHAT ARE CRYSTALS?

Crystals are used for:

Modern technology for boosts 

Decor

Healing

Ingredients in beauty products 

Connection to angels and guides

Magnifying vibratory energy

Communication enhancers

Medical Instruments

Crystals are connected with:

Ancient Wisdom and Records

Nature

Spiruts

Elemental realms 

Nature angels

Crystals contain:

Spiritual and evolutionary history of earth
Energy
Information
Power

SACRED GEOMETRY

Sacred geometry reflects beautiful mathematics that explains the perfection of the universe. Basic mathematical symmetries found in music and physical form were originally discovered by Pythagoras, who then went on to discover three key shapes in matter: the tetrahedron, the hexahedron, and the dodecahedron. This shows that matter is built upon perfect forms compromised of equilateral polygons. Plato discovered two additional shapes, the octahedron and the isosahedron. He later linked the designated shapes with the elements earth, fire, water, air, the fifth shape represents spirit. These forms are repeated in everything from snowflakes to DNA strands, humans, planetary movements and your chair. I encourage you to further read how heaven and earth have come together to produce crystals for us through sacred geometry.

BENEFITS AND WISDOM OF CRYSTALS

Although different crystals work on different areas,  here are some general, exciting benefits you can look forward too:

Increased memory

Increased energy

Ease of Breathe

Ease of Movement

Alleviation of Pain

Clarity

Positivity
Awareness of Self-Power and Purpose 

Opening of Spiritual Channels and Awareness

Reconnection to Mother Earth

Increased Sensitivity to Timeless Knowledge

I DON'T FEEL ANYTHING 

Crystals are working I assure you. If you don't notice or feel the benefits at first here are some points to understand. At first, the crystal may have started clearing thought patterns, memories, and beliefs that do not serve you anymore. This may assist you in making a better decision, having a better conversation with someone, or thinking towards situations differently tomorrow. It may be too small to notice at first but eventually you will see a chain reaction of success in the area you need assistance with.Depending on what your desire is, you may begin to feel the energy of the crystal working through your energy body. You may also begin to develop your higher intuitive and psychic senses.

 

Awaken Your Innate Charisma Through Yoga and Ayurveda

Ayurveda and Yoga are two holistic healing systems with over a century’s gathered knowledge for balancing the human mind, spirit and body; which will be discussed in this essay. Ayurveda is a whole and complete healing system which examines a person’s dosha constitution, to help identify potential causes of illness and imbalance. Yoga is an older practice, which aims to still the mind and create awareness of the body through postures known as asanas. Ayurvedic medicine incorporates Yoga as one of the methods used for cleansing, balancing and maintaining the body’s natural health. Each system is powerful as a stand-alone technique in manifesting optimum health, and due to their similar philosophies on health and disease they are effective when used together.

         Ayurvedic Medicine has its beginnings marked over 3000 years ago (Vyas & Warren, 2000, p.12). Knowledge was passed down from 52 Indian sages, known as the Rishis, who wished to bring about the end of illness on the earth (Vyas & Warren, 2000, p.4-5). Their knowledge was transmitted verbally from teacher to student for thousands of years, until it was transcribed in Sanskrit as poetry (Lad, 1990, p.21). The first text created, recorded the principles of the Ayurvedic system and is known as the ‘Charaka Samhitta’ (Godagama, 2001, p.19). In 1500BC, nomads traveling from Central Asia brought Yoga, a practise involving knowledge on how to still the mind and control the body with them to the Indian sub-continent. That’s boasting approximately 3500 years of knowledge. (Schops, 2010, p.6-12).

       Considering that both of these ancient therapies have survived history and continue to be practiced today is a testimony to their effectiveness. Time has only embellished the evolution of the practices through innovative technology and philosophies. Ayurvedic medicine is presently considered “complementary” medicine in most Western countries however; it is still widespread in India, with an estimated 80 percent of the population using it exclusively, or analogous to western medicine (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2009). The Indian government continues to fund research in the area with access to modern techniques and equipment (Dash, 1975, p.18). However, it is Yoga that has truly undergone rapid transformation. Yogi’s have developed different styles and methods of practicing Yoga, promising to rapidly develop specific benefits. Hatha Yoga developed (800-1200AD) helps one achieve enlightenment through training the body (Schops, 2010, p.13). Kundalini Yoga (1930-2004) aims to target the snake energy resting in a person’s base chakra, helping it to rise and eliminate blocks in the body. Bikram Yoga (1946) is done in a heated room briskly detoxing the body.

        Ayurveda is a way of living (Ayu) meaning living and (Veda) meaning science or knowledge. Together the words mean “The Science of life” (Dash, 1975, p.v). It is a holistic healing system that treats the mind, body and spirit as one. Ayurveda’s philosophy on health, is the oldest example of “prevention is better than cure”. Instead of focusing on illness, Ayurveda prevents the body from falling out of balance through treatments such as detoxification (Panchakarma), and purification (Rasayana). This spirited balance allows development of trust in the body’s natural intelligence, aiding interpretation of symptoms to develop an evolved sense natural vitality (Vyas & Warren, 2000, p.6). Ayurveda and Yoga both employ this philosophy, which is why Yoga is stressed as part of the Ayurvedic way of life. Yoga focuses on bringing the mind body and spirit into balance, through asanas, controlled breathing and meditation. Once all stress is relieved and poses can be held with ease all obstacles in the way of achieving peace of mind have been removed (Schops, 2010, p.6).

        Universal consciousness is the very heart of Ayurvedic medicine, its manifestation through the elements should work together in balance within the body to generate optimum health and vitality. Yoga also adopts a similar view, teaching that well-being results in clear perception, and conscious (Schops, 2010, p.6). Ayurveda communicates that, accumulated toxins (ama) are the root of all disease (Lad, 1990, p.40). Allowing the body to naturally heal by producing and excreting waste products: such as urine, feces, and sweat at normal levels prevent this accumulation (Lad, 1990, p.37) Yoga speeds up the process of eliminating toxins from the physical and energetic body, allowing energy to run freely through the energy channels and major energy centres (chakras) (Schops, 2010, p.33). This is why Ayurvedic medicine and Yoga are effective alternatives to pharmacological cures, because they prevent the build-up of toxins that lead to disease in the first place (Dash, 1975, p.viii)

        Yoga is one of the many modalities harnessed in Ayurvedic medicine to bring about balance, unity and purity of the body. Their similar philosophies on balance, and unity make them ideal in working together to establish a sense of well-being. Both Ayurveda and Yoga acknowledge the energy centres in our body. They also testify to the fact that our bodies cannot run as smoothly when there is energy centres that are blocked, or have built up (ama) within them. Through their own methods, they both decrease the body’s toxins; providing an ideal way of living that prevents unrest.

         Health is the body’s natural state, and should not be difficult to maintain, or impossible to achieve without the intervention of drugs that we have only recently created. We are entitled to health; it is our natural state where we encompass abundant energy to bring our ideas and dreams into full actualised reality despite all the negativity and hardships we may encounter along the way. When a balance of energy is maintained in our body, we have the mental clarity to rid old, and unwanted patterns in our life that no longer serve our life purpose; allowing for the new to enter. It is only when we become unbalanced and blocked that we allow disease to take over the bodies systems that are innately equipped to deal with most bacteria and infections.

         Ayurveda and Yoga are one of the many holistic healing systems that allow a person to keep their own mental, spiritual and physical health in check. When the self is known, Ayurveda and Yoga certainly provide the tools to apply to ourselves in a way that increases vitality, well-being, motivation while decreasing your likelihood of falling into a state of low energy and negativity. Using Ayurvedic methods to calculate your own constitution, allows you to placate the over or underactive energies in your body. Yoga will aid in releasing emotional blocks through breath and postures; eventually leading to a quiet mind that is capable of great intelligence and quality of thought. By balancing yourself through incorporating these techniques into your regime, you will bring about your natural charisma eventually awakening your innate potential. 
 

References

Dash, V.B1975, Ayurveda For Mother & Child, Dehli Diary, New Dehli.
Godagama, S 2001, The Handbook of Ayurveda, Kyle Cathe Limited, London.
Lad, V 1990, Ayurveda: The science of Self-Healing, Lotus Press, WI
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1998, Ayurvedic Medicine: An Introduction 2009, viewed 24 January 2013
<http://nccam.nih.gov/health/ayurveda/introduction.htm>.
Schops, I 2010, Yoga, Paragon Books, United Kingdom.
Vyas, B & Warren, J 2000, Simply Ayurveda: Discover Your Type to Transform Your Life, Harper Collins, London.

 

  Binaural Beats and Isotones

“I have the amazing ability to clearly communicate my wisdom to others.”  
– Kris Carr’s affirmation for day 13

Day 13 Weigh In: 76.5kg’s 

I’M SO EXCITED ALL THE TIME!

Looks like the weight is falling off again.  It’s not the main point of this adventure but I am certainly not complaining. Went to gym today for a 30 minute weight session and 20 minute run. I hit the sauna for 15 minutes afterward and I feel amazing.

Tomorrow is a new day as well, imagine that? Blessed.

Have you been meditating?

Meditation is a great practice to develop. What could be the harm in quieting your mind, to feel what it’s like to be gently inside your body. If you don’t notice effects straight away, please don’t be discouraged – keep at it, and slowly you will become a master of knowing your true self. If you find it too hard to quiet your mind, some people find it easy to start off with concentrating solely on music . In the end, the silence becomes your music, and every sound that is born into existence around you sends shivers of pleasure up your spine, because you realise it's pure energy forming out of nowhere. I’m not exaggerating. Try starting off with some binaural  beats, or isotones (get some for free at this website), most people will notice a strange sensation wash over their body when listening to these sounds – never be alarmed, just let it happen.

If you want to get started on meditating I recommended isotones. I currently use those to kick-start my meditation sessions. Binaural beats are proven to be more effective, however, you must listen to these with headphones as their success lies in dispersing a different frequency out of right and left speakers to emulate a certain brain frequency.

BENEFITS OF BINAURAL BEAT MEDITATION?

Have said t increase: IQ

Aid weight-loss

Calm nerves and anxiety

Aid in reversing depression

Awaken inner awareness and motivation

Open your heart to love!

But hey, I’m not  a scientist, I just participate because it feels amazing and I notice benefits, give it a go for yourself!

Thanks for reading,

 If you enjoy my blog I would love it if you could scroll down and become a member (you only need a Google, twitter, or yahoo account) Spread the love, light, wisdom, and health to everyone! It's up to you and me! 

Yoga time?

“I love how wonderful I feel and I am so incredibly proud of myself, right now, today.”  

–Kris Carr’s affirmation for day 11

Mushrooms, spinach, homus, peppers, nuttelex, vegan mayo, lettuce,
gluten free tortilla wraps, cucumbers, apples, organic honey, purple carrots,
Rice Bran oil (Good cooking oil)  

Snow peas, olive oil, prunes, cous cous, lettuce, bean sprouts, shiitake mushrooms,
Brussels sprouts, pears, miso soup, vegan noodles, mung beans, cucumber

Day 11 Weigh In: 78.0 kg’s 

So I seem to have hit a bit of a weight loss stump – my weight has gone up in the past 3 days, but I certainly feel lighter, and look lighter. Ugh, does anyone else hate this cold weather? Keeping my bedroom window shut makes me sneeze! Apart from that, I haveexperienced a great improvement in my sinuses.

Mood: Bright as

Motivation: Through the roof

 Over the detox blues? Perhaps. I am so excited all the time I can barely keep it inside – but when I do keep it inside it’s just as lovely to feel all the positive emotions swirling around in there. It feels like my heart is getting bigger and bigger, I can love stronger and harder, and I am not afraid of the consequences that may bring either. There can be no downside to an open heart. My writing is coming much easier, especially where related to assignments. My mind is much more focused on the topic, as well as enthusiastic about it, enthusiasm creates that spark in my writing, making it flow better.

Benefits I am feeling?

• Less day dreaming: Face it, this can be nice before you go to bed, but an escapist like myself can spend way too much time in the head, therefore missing all the beauty of the moment or automatically rendering it insufficient for my happiness

• Laughter: I positively seem to enjoy everyone’s humor without any walls getting in the way – humor that is relevant to my level of understanding that is.
• Love: I have way too much love to give today

• Peace of mind: Every activity I engage in, I focus on fully, slowly, and with compassion, the days just keep getting better

 I’m not missing sugar or animal product at all, and my energy levels feel amazing! I may not have to add some eggs back into the diet after all which I am so happy for. If you try this diet and find that no animal product is wearing you out by this stage, add minimal back in to see how you go, not all bodies are made for simply green living. I am going tell my body how grateful I am for its capacity to keep me so alive on a cruelty free diet.

My house-mate bought a new yoga dvd. Since I have mastered the other one I am looking forward to doing the same with the new one. It’s much harder, I am going to be one balanced cookie by the end of it. The previous Yoga dvd that started off my journey was called "Yoga with Amy". Take a look at her website. Amy is gentle, and has a soothing voice, you can simply feel her inner-awareness radiating out, I highly recommend her. 

Now I am out to master "Michelle Merrifield's Yoga + Pilates"while this DVD involves more advanced balance training - which I am looking forward to, Michelle brings more of a "Pilates" instructor vibe to the DVD, talks loud, fast, and high pitched which easily distracts me from my meditative zone. Give her a go though if you are looking to get started

 

 A New Approach

Fear of failure, perfection anxiety, social disharmony, and avoidance have ruled your thought patterns long enough.

Let’s try for a week to stop looking at our failures, and instead record our successes, however small they may be.

Setting goals, and recording when you have succeeded, whilst acknowledging and praising yourself is one of the most powerful ways to bring more power back into your life. It gives you time to focus on what you can do, rather than what you can’t. If you are an anxious or depressed person, days and nights can all swirl into a blur, becoming one big meaningless mess. It becomes hard to determine how it ever wasn’t meaningless, why it isn’t meaningless, or if it ever won’t be meaningless. Your mind has pulled you under water, lead you into a trap, and every new day spent trying to swim through all the emotions and thoughts further aid your feeling of hopelessness. Here is where it becomes important to understand that even if everything outside is beyond your control, you can at least take control of yourself and feel something amazing again.

Take it slow to begin with; the best bet is always to make sure you are healthy so you have plenty of energy to tackle the goals that will follow. See, wanting to get fit and add some exercise into your everyday routine is going to be hard if you are they type that finds it hard to get out of bed till after noon. Notice how any of your current habits may be blocking your goal success and try and break them with new ones that make you feel happier, confident, and more powerful. This is to make sure that we do our best to succeed in any goals we may set.

Go ahead and set a goal you know you can do tomorrow to add meaning and positivity to your day. 

If you are going to work, don’t focus on the fact that you hate the job and your day is going to be miserable, instead focus on what you can do to make it better for yourself, or for someone else, because it is true that compassion will help bring you happiness. Even if your goal is as simple as talking to a co-worker and sharing conversation with them, when you achieve it and set out to do what you said you were going to, you will feel more powerful and positive about your day, making you more eager to try again the next day, and the day after that!

Record everything that makes you smile! Go out and buy a note-book so you can decorate it with anything you value, such as your friends, your interests or your goals! Every day write down when someone says something good about you and try and give them a meaningful compliment in return.  

Write down the tiniest and simplest thing you create, like a new recipe, a new song, a new drawing. Make this book a place to read everything you have felt positive about achieving. Also turn it into a place to record progress towards current goals. You will see that the more that you achieve, and remember you have achieved, the more you may learn about yourself and what you want out of your life. 

Remember to shake off your failures, and forget the days you didn’t quite get through everything you intended to and tell yourself that you will do better next time. 

Motivating yourself is a skill to build upon and the less you worry about not being able to achieve the things you want in life, the less you avoid becoming fearful of your desires. Fear of your desires and dreams comes from your rooted belief you will never get them, and therefore should settle with something else, something less, something meaningless to you. 

So don’t be afraid to dream, and encourage yourself every day to dream, even if it’s just a little.

 

 

Don't Be a Walking Reaction

Do you feel empty? Alone? Are you, for some reason beyond your grasp, unable to truly connect with people? Most of us can relate to these issues. We understand how easy it is to become negative, depressed, and hateful. We may also relate to what it feels like to finally give up on everything, including yourself. It’s a typical reaction to say you have been hurt before, and, it seems much easier to stop trying. It's easier to think everyone else should be putting in all the effort. After all, everyone else should change to try and work out a relationship with you, you’re the one that is absolutely perfect. 

At least with this mindset you are not taking any risks. 

You do however continue to complain about all your previous friends that were horrible, or all the ex-boyfriends that were just jerks. In fact, you may extend this thinking to the whole human-race, blame them, or make excuses. The real issue here is that you are unaware of just how hard it is for any human-being to actually get close to, and know the real you. 

Already angry with the words I have written? Are you already coming up with a million reasons why this isn’t what is actually happening in your situation? Telling yourself you’ve just had a stream of bad luck in the past with everyone that you got involved with? Or have you actually progressed to the next stage where you do acknowledge this is the truth but simply choose to brush it off?

“Yeah, I am defensive; I am hard to get to know. But I have just been hurt before, and therefore everyone is going to have to make effort for me, if they can’t understand that I have been hurt in the past and will need continuous validation, and, the go-ahead to act horrible, snarky, and defensive when I perceive a threat to my ego, then I don't think their worth being friends with”

Are you worth being friends with if you treat other people like that? Stop and think about it for a second.

The truth is if you are unable to acknowledge what I am writing then it’s okay to keep your walls up till a later date when you are ready to bring them down. But if you are happy with that sort of standard in your life then realize your relationships are never really going to fulfill you, nor will others be willing to open up to you either. If you can’t do anything else, at least stop complaining to the people in your life about the fact people are 'shit', or you are just going to push them away as well, and we don’t need you to take any more ill-perceived blows to your fragile ego.

As hard as it may be to take responsibility for yourself and your actions, I have to tell you a bit of shocking news. Everyone has been through some kind of trauma, because the mind naturally creates drama no matter who you are. Ever heard of first world problems? When you complain that your phone is playing up a little bit, or that you don’t have enough clothes, when in reality, other people may not even posses these items at all?

The difference between the person who makes excuses, and someone who takes responsibility for their life, is that they aren’t choosing to act like an entitled child about their problems by insisting that other people are responsible for, or should fix them, instead those people chose to develop a healthier mindset somewhere along the way, or had some help with it. It became clear to their mind, and their ego, that they weren’t a defenseless little child anymore. Therefore it became okay for them to open up to people. If you have a healthy set of boundaries for yourself about who you let into your life you will have an easier time creating mutual-trust. With mutual-trust created between people who are; worthy of your time, or a special place in your heart, no longer will you feel the need to lash out at tiny little things they do that upset you, as you will naturally begin to discern between who has good intentions for you, and who doesn’t with much more ease. And even if a rogue does sometimes slip through the cracks, that’s okay, because your mind will be smart enough to realize that; yes - you may be hurting - but - you are still an amazing person. It accepts the fact you have no control over how someone decides to treat you, or act, and if you consistently feel that hurt in your chest from someone then you actually have the power to walk away. Wow! It seems so simple, but for some reason so many of us are conditioned from a young age to feel powerless.

So, let’s talk about your ego, the place where all these defense-mechanisms began.

Your ego is created by your mind. It is made up of all the little things that your brain associates with being you. Your ego - or your mind’s - first priority is to protect your sense of self – this can be why we are so blind to how we appear to others. Your mind simply just will not let you, it seeks to protect you and when you feel threatened or upset, it decides to put certain boundaries into place, or walls, that protect you from what is  making your heart feel anger, sadness, or grief (a threat). For a healthy person, these boundaries could be walking away. But for someone with low self-esteem (someone who is naturally not in touch with themselves) they may choose to lash out instead and demand to be validated. These people become increasingly adverse to trusting people. They also seem to start all relationships off with  the concept “guilty till you prove your innocence”. The fact that they come to expect this behavior from others, means that they also start to believe they will never get any better anyway, so they repress their need for love and choose to interact on superficial instead. 

Most people grow up with relatively healthy ego’s. However, the problems can start very early on in childhood. I'm going to give you one example, but, there are many  times your mind perceived your emotions as a threat and tried to close off, for every different age and situation. Let’s say as a young child you felt unloved by your parents, lonely, or unworthy. At that young age with no defenses in place those emotions would have been simply overwhelming. When we were children we did not always deal with these emotions in a calm and rational way, nor did we perceive hurts in a rational way either. How could we? We were only children, it was not our fault that our heart told us that we felt lonely or unloved, that was simply the heart doing its job in trying to bring to our attention that one of our most basic needs weren’t being met. This may have made us cry, shout, scream, and act entitled or infuriated when we didn’t get our way, and by acting this way our parents may have not perceived that it was actually more  love and care we were screaming for. As children, we had no way of using a logical adult mind to express why we had all this bitterness and anger, and in an attempt to quiet us down in times our parents were stressed or simply could not muster up the energy to deal with us, they gave-in and gave us what we wanted, such as toys to fuel our insatiable boredom which was actually born from inner turmoil and emptiness. This taught our ego at a young age – before we were cognitively able to understand our emotions – that by closing up, yelling, acting viciously, we were able to attain something that helped us forget about how empty we felt on the inside. The ego was happy therefore you were happy. And please don't go blaming your parents either, they had their own reasons for why they weren't a completely perfect human-being that understood all facets of the human mind.

As we get older we do start to learn that maybe crying and yelling aren’t the best tools to use with some of our friends, but really, we still have ill-equipped methods to deal with conflicts to begin with, so we create new ones that aren't going to be useful for very long. This is because from such a young age we learn not to listen to our heart – we learn to listen to our mind instead. This type of entitled behavior is not coming from a bad place, it’s coming from a defensive place, and although we may develop new strategies to cope as a teenager and young adult, if we don’t get to the root of the dilemma it’s all going to end up coming across as that person we have all known, have all met, or have even been, the defensive witch. This person is angry and empty because they are so out of touch with their emotions and themselves. They continue to justify their negative attitude and anger towards people due to the fact they have been hurt in the past. What they don’t realise is, they have now become the exact person their ego is trying to protect them against, someone who is irrational, lashes out, blames all their friends and the world for their problems, consistently argues, and looks to only the physical to make themselves feel better. They have not learned to forgive.

Ever met someone that was so beautiful – but never satisfied? They may work out hours at the gym, or starve themselves to look better when things just don’t work out because they believe this is the only possible way anyone will ever love them. When everything still goes wrong, and people are still repelled they can only think “what is wrong with me?”. Girls may dull the pain of rejection by trying to get thinner, boys may try to feel big and strong or go out and consistently seek sex from different females, but eventually this person has to realize that there is something missing in their lives. What is missing is their connection to their heart. It’s hard to open up your heart to someone who can’t even open it up to themselves isn’t it? You try to connect with them but find that they are just consistently unhappy with you or their situation, or are never satisfied with the current moment you're in together. They can’t just be. They have to become, always, whether it’s thinner, more intoxicated or more loved. 

If this is you, I am sure your ego is doing a million and one things to protect yourself right now, and protect your sense of self. But please realize that all those thoughts, all these actions, and all the defenses you have put into place are not actually you. You are actually just scared of opening up and being hurt, you have been since you were a child, or that first time your ego  decided it would be easier to deal with your emotions by building defenses, making excuses for yourself, and blaming others. You should also take comfort in this, because even though it may be hard or a long road to take, you can become that amazingly beautiful and radiant person that only creates joy and harmony in relationships with other people. Don’t you want to be that person, finally? Don’t you want to be released from your mind and filled with the beauty of your emotions and the light of your own soul?

Once you take the first steps to removing that barrier, you take the first steps in becoming a person of absolutely high value – you are no longer taking value from other people by being a walking reaction to everything others say and do, you are becoming a genuine and authentic human being in who is in touch with themselves.

What you may believe: I just love to argue

What others believe: That you would rather have a conversation validating yourself instead of truly connecting.

So what if they think that? It’s their perception. You don’t need them as a friend if they choose to look at you that way instead of getting to know you right?

True. But only true from your perspective. If you are currently satisfied with the kind of friends in your life that you can continue to have negative conversations with then I guess you don’t really need to be reading this article. Oh but wait, you are reading this. 

There will be good people entering your life all the time, and they will continue to. Don’t be threatened by them or try to bring them down, be with them, you are worthy enough to be with them. If they are the type of person that only wants to take from you, example; using your conversations to validate themselves, then set boundaries for yourself and choose to hang around those who would rather contribute to their own life and yours. 

I am not saying that walking around with an air of arrogance and negativity won’t bring some people you consider friends into your life, however, they will either be people with extremely low self-esteem that may only drag you down when you begin to progress in your life, or they are people with just as many walls up as you, people who make excuses, people who hate their life, and blame others. 

This type of self-progression is not meant to be used instead of medication if you really need it. You may be someone who has suppressed themselves and their emotions in an attempt to appear perfect, strong willed, or in control for so long that your mind is so confused about who you are that you simply cannot get out of it without some help. Or your brain chemistry (unluckily) has thrown you into this state. But if you really do need medication, there is NO EXCUSE, to walk around a mess and refuse to take it. Medication may also start to change your view point and your state of mind into a place where you can be more in touch with your emotions. It may also make your mind clearer and progress you to a place where you  find it easier to process cognitive-intellect and self-awareness. But please keep in mind, so much of that can be achieved through trying to eliminate your anxiety in other way such as meditating, sleeping well, eating healthily, and exercising. Also by cutting the crap in your life, people, lovers, food and wasteful pastimes.

Learning to open up and take responsibility doesn’t happen overnight. Nor have I become the new Buddha of this planet. But by taking these steps, and first having awareness of what you are doing in your life that is becoming toxic to others, you are ready to take the journey into inner-happiness. Also if you have friends who that might be interested in becoming better people, whom you trust and know have good intentions, perhaps you can both point out to each other when you aren't being your genuine self.

In my following posts I will begin to start off with ways you can become more self-aware and conscious in your every day and relationships with people. The biggest thing I can mention to you now is that confidence is the biggest factor to hauling yourself out of this protective state. With true and radiant confidence, that only comes from inside sources, not outside, you can start to blossom into wonderful person who has high standards for themselves and for the people you choose to get involved with. You hold the key, it's really that simple.

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